A Leopard Lacewing, found in Upper Assam

Sept. 19: When former Dibrugarh deputy commissioner Niraj Verma decided to turn Jokai reserve forest into a botanical garden, he had never imagined he would get a butterfly park for free.

About 12km from Dibrugarh town, Jokai’s untamed green looked like the perfect spot to hardsell for “leisure in wilderness”.

The 1,848-hectare forest is home to innumerable rare birds, besides elephants, deer, leopard hornbills, Assamese macaque and slow loris.

It struck Verma that with a bit of marketing, the forest could become a local tourism hub.

The plan worked but he was not to know then that once the forest was turned into a botanical garden, countless butterflies would make the greens their home.

Jokai is now a butterfly watcher’s paradise. So much so that that local zoology experts have been suggesting setting up a butterfly park there.

“We are really delighted to find so many butterflies all over. This, indeed, can be turned into a full-fledged butterfly park. It will not only attract visitors but also be of great help for students,” said Rajib Rudra Tariang, a lecturer of zoology at Digboi College.

In fact, Tariang, who is now a frequent visitor to Jokai, so far recorded 130 species of butterflies, in and around the botanical garden.

Some rare species like great windmill, common birdwing, red helen and striped albatross have also been spotted.

Among the 1,500 varieties of butterflies found all over India, about 1,000 are found in the Northeast alone.

Assam so far has recorded 700 species, including rare ones like pallid forester, Peal’s Palmfly, Cachar Mandarin Blue and plain bush brown.

“Very few notice that we are gradually losing our butterflies and reptiles. If steps are not taken to save them, future generations will see them only in books,” Tariang said.

Deputy ranger Soumendra Saikia, who has been working at the botanical garden, too, agrees that the garden has the potential to be turned into a butterfly park.

“A large number of visitors come here to watch the butterflies. But we can’t guide them since we have little idea about the various species. So I suggest at least a part of the botanical garden is turned into a butterfly park,” Saikia said.