Three tigers spotted in West Bengal’s only virgin forest

Three adult Royal Bengal tigers were recently spotted in the camera traps placed at strategic locations in West Bengal’s only virgin forest, Neora Valley National Park, in Kalimpong district, sending

KOLKATA: Three adult Royal Bengal tigers were recently spotted in the camera traps placed at strategic locations in West Bengal’s only virgin forest, Neora Valley National Park, in Kalimpong district, sending conservationists into a tizzy.

“The three tigers were spotted at three different locations of the national park,” Divisional Forest Officer Nisha Goswami said.

Samples of the photos have been sent for verification to determine whether the photographs are of the same tiger or of different big cats. Sources revealed that initial reports suggest that the sizes and stripe patterns of the three tigers are different.

With the latest photographs, the total number of tigers spotted in the national park on the India-Bhutan border amounts to five, in just one year. Driver Anmol Chhetri had spotted and photographed the first tiger in Neora Valley on his mobile camera close to a road near Lava on January 19 last year.
After Chhetri’s photograph, four camera traps were installed at strategic locations in the forest the next day itself.

The second tiger was captured by one of the cameras on January 23. No humans are allowed inside the 160 sq km national park, either for tourism or collection of forest products.

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