New haven found

Alipurduar, Jan. 18: Wild dogs were spotted for the first time in Jaldapara sanctuary, the second forest after Buxa in north Bengal to record the animal, locally called dhole.

Foresters attributed the presence of the dholes to the almost extinction of the tiger in the sanctuary. They said the wild dogs would help improve the food chain of Jaldapara, where the number of herbivores had increased in the recent past.

The dhole is on the Red List of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and is categorised as an endangered animal. According to the IUCN, there are fewer than 2,500 wild dogs across the globe. The animal was included in the Red List in 2004.

“We have been hearing for the past two years that wild dogs are found at Kodal Basti. But we didn’t get any evidence. Recently, a group of forest guards spotted the animal in Barodabri 2, Mendabari 5 and 6, and Bania 2 compartments of the sanctuary. The range officer of Kodal Basti, Suranjan Sarkar, has even taken a picture of the wild dog,” said Omprakash, the divisional forest officer of wildlife III.

According to the foresters, Chilapata, Kodal Basti and Mendabari were the haunts of tigers in the early 90s. “But we can hardly find a big cat in these areas now. Naturally, wild dogs feel safe and have made Jaldapara their habitat,” said a forest officer.

The records available with the forest department show that except Buxa, the dholes were not found in any other sanctuary in north Bengal. Members of a Calcutta-based NGO had claimed in 2007 that they had spotted wild dogs in Neora Valley in 2007, but the foresters did not get any evidence to show their presence.

Jaldapara’s new inhabitant is set to be an important part of the food chain as the sanctuary has witnessed a rapid rise in the number of herbivores like deer recently. “The existence of a carnivore like wild dog will help maintain the food chain. If the herbivores keep increasing and there is no corresponding rise in the number of carnivores, there will be too much pressure on the forest’s grassland and plants. At a time the tiger is hardly seen, the presence of the dhole is welcome sign as far as the food chain is concerned,” said the forest officer.

Omprakash said the foresters had also found a ditch where the dholes bred. “The wild dogs hunt at dawn or early in the morning. A male dhole’s weight is not less than 18kg, while the female weighs around 12kg. I have instructed the staff to take pictures of the dogs and identify and protect the areas where they are roaming. The presence of the new carnivore is a testimony to the bio-diversity of the forest,” he said.

The officer added that since Kodal Basti range officer had snapped the dhole at night, the picture clarity was not good.