Authorities of the Buxa Tiger Reserve (BTR) have got what is being billed as the first photographic evidence of the existence of the near-extinct ‘Golden Cat’ in the reserve forest. Officials said the cameras that have been installed in the forests have also captured the weasel, a rare mammal.

According to officials at the BTR located in Alipurduar district, the evidence of these two rare species of animals in the reserve forest has made the state forest department officials very happy, “as it proves there is good habitat for the cat family in the BTR.”

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“This is the first time that we have got evidence of the Golden Cat here. The weasel, almost the size of a dog, was also captured in the trap cameras,” Principal Chief Conservator of forests (Wildlife) Rabi Kanta Sinha said.

“The Golden Cat, which was trapped in cameras in the Neora Valley National Park for the first time, has now been clicked by cameras in the Buxa Tiger Reserve forest. It proves that the habitat for the cat family in the BTR is good there,” he added.

It is learnt that the photo of the Golden Cat was taken on the hilly sides of the BTR in between 12 and 26 February this year. The snaps came to the notice of officials when they checked photographs taken by the 392 trap cameras across a area of 760 square km in the BTR as part of the national-level synchronized census of the big cats conducted under the guidelines of the National Tiger Conservation Authority recently.

The BTR, which was created as a tiger reserve forest in 1983, had an old fame of having at least 26 tigers in the seventies. However, there are doubts now if the reserve has any tiger left there. To bring back the old fame, the state forest department has decided to begin a tiger augmentation programme in the tiger reserve forest.

The National Tiger Conservation Authority had primarily given the nod for the augmentation programme at the BTR. “This evidence of the existence of the Golden Cat, one of the rarest species of wild cats, will surely help the state forest department to convince other required bodies in its efforts to protect and conserve the big cats,” experts said.