Forest officials of the Baikunthpur Forest Division in West Bengal initially did not believe their ears when locals told them kangaroos had been sighted hopping about in the forests under their jurisdiction. However, late on Friday evening, they found not one but three kangaroos from the narrow forested patches bordering the State’s Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri districts. On Saturday morning, the carcass of a kangaroo was found in the Farabari area nearby, taking the number of kangaroos recorded in north Bengal to four.
“This is very unusual for us — to rescue kangaroos, which are not native to the continent [of Asia]. Earlier, we have rescued animals that were being smuggled through the corridor that starts from the northeast [of India] to north Bengal, and we heightened security,” Debal Roy, Principal Chief Conservator of Forest and Chief Wildlife Warden-North Bengal, said. Mr. Roy added that there had been inputs from informants on the smuggling of animals, and security had been increased on the roads to apprehend wildlife smugglers.
While no one has been arrested and the forest official are not sure where these animals were heading, he pointed out that kangaroos were certainly being transported in small containers inside cramped spaces, and the moment the smugglers got a whiff of security checks, they left the animals on the forested roadside and slipped away. Hari Krishnan, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), Baikunthpur Forest Division, said that the rescued kangaroos had been handed over to the Bengal Safari Zoo in Siliguri. He confirmed that the rescued animals were sub-adults (not full grown).
