Two species of butterflies found in north Bengal, the Common Imperial (top) and Knight of Chilapata. Picture courtesy: forest department

Alipurduar, Aug. 20: The government will come out with a brochure on butterflies to woo more tourists to the Dooars before Pujas. Cooch Behar Forest Division will train local youths on the winged creatures to guide the visitors.

The trained youths will also show the tourists other small insects like dragon flies and spiders and wild flowers to create an awareness among them.

Bengal is home to about 600-650 species of butterflies. Of them, 193 are available in the Cooch Behar division.

Ujjwal Ghosh, the divisional forest officer (DFO) of Cooch Behar, said: “Tourists come to Jaldapara Wildlife Sanctuary and other forests in the region to watch large animals like rhinos and elephants. But they are often disappointed as the animals are not sighted always. Our intention is to inform the visitors that apart from large animals, the area is the habitat of a lot of small creatures, particularly butterflies. Now we are working in Chilapata, Mendabari, Kodal Basti and CC Line forests.”

According to Ghosh, 25 boys aged above 18 years from nearby villages and the 15 tourist guides of Jaldapara will be trained on the butterflies available here. “We will compile the brochure with all information and photographs and bring it out before Pujas,” he said.

The department has a plan to set up a butterfly enclosure either in Kunjanagar Eco-Tourism Centre or in South Khayerbari Eco Park for the tourists, the DFO said. “We will keep host plants, larva and male and female butterflies for breeding there,” he added.