Aarti holds the civet, Hari. Telegraph file picture

Cooch Behar, Oct. 8: From the care of a foster mother to the rugged wild, Hari is now getting ready for a new home.

The forest department on Friday seized Hari, a civet that had been brought up by a Santhal woman. It will be released soon in the woods surrounding Rasikbeel, a bird sanctuary located 40km from here.

“The three-month old civet cat is undernourished. We are giving it medicines and food. Once it gains proper weight, we will release it,” said the Rasikbeel beat officer Narayan Joardar.

The tale of Hari and Arati Pashi, the Santhal woman who raised the animal by breast-feeding it along with her 18-month-old son, was reported in The Telegraph on August 13 this year.

At that time, the Santhals were camping near the old Cooch Behar railway station. According to the divisional forest officer (social forestry) Apurba Sen, the group was spotted near Falakata station in Jalpaiguri district on Friday.

“A team of forest staff visited the woman in her makeshift tent and brought the animal to Rasikbeel,” Sen said.

“If we see that it is not being able to adjust to the wild, we will make some other arrangement like a cage or a shed for it.”

Forest officials said no charges were pressed against the woman on humanitarian grounds.

After all, they added, Arati had reared Hari and not allowed it to be hunted down.