Kolkata: The state Forest department has captured an image of a male leopard in the wilderness in the Simni forests of Purulia. The leopard spotted in one of the trap cameras laid by the department under Kotshila Range of Purulia Division is an adult male. The leopard has also been captured hunting in the forest.
“Leopards have been found residing here for the last few years and there is already an existing leopard family of 5-6 members. So, the image of the latest one is nothing new for us. We will protect them and will try to go for some microhabitat planning in such an area,” said Anjan Guha, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), Purulia.
10 trap cameras were laid at strategic locations by the Forest department since October and will remain installed till March 2026, informed Guha.
Leopard was first reported in the Purulia Division in 2022 and has been found regularly over the last two years. The Forest department has even photographed leopard cubs playing, bearing testimony to the fact that there is a leopard family in this forest.
The Forest department officials are excited with documentation of animals like rusty-spotted cat, honey badger, pangolin, hyena, wolf, leopard, black bear etc in Purulia proving that the South Bengal forest is emerging as a treasure trove of biodiversity in Bengal. Earlier this month, the department captured images of sloth bear at Kotshila-Jhalda forest in Purulia. Infact, the biodiversity in Kotshila Range has been found to be more than that of the Ayodhya Range.
In September last year, honey badger, the only living species of the genus Mellivora, was documented for the first time from the Simni beat of Kotshila Range in Purulia.