A two-day training programme by the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) started on Saturday at the nature interpretation centre of the state forest department at Sukna, some 10km from here, for forest staff and Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) personnel to promote protection and conservation of wildlife and check depredation of wild animals in human habitats.

The SSB guards the borders that India shares with Nepal and Bhutan.

In north Bengal, human-animal conflict is a major issue, which leads to the loss of crops, properties and human lives. In some incidents, wild animals, which stray into villages, are killed.

The region is also known to be a corridor for rackets smuggling live animals and animal parts. The forest department and security agencies make regular seizures.

The training, named “Methods for Monitoring Mammalian Fauna of the Himalayas”, witnessed sessions conducted by ZSI officials and experts.

“This part of the greater Himalayan region is very important as many endangered species, including red pandas, snow leopards and salamanders are found here. Through the training, we are helping foresters and the SSB work for the protection and conservation of wild species of this region,” said Lalit Kumar Sharma, the ZSI training coordinator.

He pointed out that of the total cases received at the ZSI-run wildlife forensic lab in Calcutta for various tests of animal species and body parts, 90 per cent come from north Bengal.

"Through these tests, we learn about the presence of various rare and endangered species found in this region. For example, we knew that the Chinese pangolin lives here, but earlier this year, the DNA analysis of a sample confirmed the presence of the Indo-Burmese species of the mammal,” Sharma said.

“Participants were told that people here are not aware of the Indo-Burmese pangolin and that its conservation is vital to maintain the ecological balance and biodiversity of southeast Asia,” said a ZSI representative.

Foresters of Darjeeling, Kurseong and Mahananda wildlife divisions and personnel of the SSB are attending the training.

A ZSI representative said that during the training, participants were sensitised on elephant corridor monitoring, wildlife crime detection, methods of collecting data on wildlife, the importance of mitigating man-animal (mostly man-elephant) conflicts and exchange of information to conserve animal species and curb crimes.

For example, participants were told that a traditional and effective method to stop Himalayan black bears from entering human habitats was to burn dried cakes of cow dung mixed with red chilies in the vicinity.

Foresters and SSB officials appreciated the initiative.

Santu Das, the additional wildlife warden of the Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary on the outskirts of Siliguri, said one of the major challenges for them is to mitigate man-elephant conflict as many human settlements have come up in the fringes of reserve forests and wildlife habitats.

“We learned some new ways to address the issue. Nowadays, we are conducting an estimation of the elephant population in forest areas close to human habitats, which helps us handle the elephants and steer them back to the forest in time to check depredation,” said Das.

Neeraj Mishra, an assistant commandant of SSB posted on the India-Nepal border in the Singalila National Park of Darjeeling hills, said they were always on alert to prevent wildlife crimes and cross-border smuggling of animals or animal parts.

“We work in tandem with the state forest department. A more collective effort will always help protect wildlife in this region,” he said.