Wildlife authorities in West Bengal’s Jalpaiguri rescued three kangaroos on April 1 and 2 . They are believed to have been abandoned by smugglers. The animals were hungry and sick and have since been sent to Bengal Safari Park for treatment. A joey or baby kangaroo was found dead.
The recovery of At least five kangaroos in the last 30 days in India has raised a fair amount of justifiable concern at their presence here, since the mammal is exclusively indigenous to Australia and New Guinea,
Wildlife authorities in West Bengal’s Jalpaiguri rescued three kangaroos on April 1 and 2 April. They are believed to have been abandoned by smugglers. The animals were hungry and sick and have since been sent to Bengal Safari Park for treatment. A joey or baby kangaroo was found dead.
Last month a kangaroo was found in a goods vehicle in the neighbouring district of Alipurduar.
Sanjay Dutta, a ranger under the Baikunthupur forest division says “We have begun investigation, particularly to ascertain how and by whom they were brought into the forest
Raja Raut, the Secretary of Jalpaiguri Science and Nature Club, an NGO working in the field of research and protection of flora and fauna in north Bengal, said it was not even clear if these were kangaroos at all.
“The first doubt is whether the animals recovered are kangaroos or wallabies, a smaller version of kangaroos”, he says.
He explains that kangaroos are generally much larger in size and heavier than wallabies. They can be as tall as two metres (6 feet 5 inches) and their weight can be up to around 90 kgs. However, the height of the wallabies can go up to a maximum of one metre (3 feet) and their weight can be maximum up to 20 kgs.
Raut avers “We doubt that the origin of these recovered animals is any foreign country like Australia. Rather… that these animals are from certain illegal breeding farms that are operating in some remote pockets of northeastern India, especially in Mizoram.
“Of late we have received information from fellow NGOs operating in the same field in the northeast that few such illegal breeding farms have started reproducing kangaroos or wallabies through artificial insemination.”
In parts of Asia, he added, the body parts of these animals are used make aphrodisiacs and many of the smuggling routes likely cross India.
Environmentalist S Pandey, says “I suggest a joint enquiry by all agencies concerned be started to stamp out this racket”.
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These are extraordinary times. All of us have to rely on high-impact, trustworthy journalism. And this is especially true of the Indian Diaspora. Members of the Indian community overseas cannot be fed with inaccurate news.
Pravasi Samwad is a venture that has no shareholders. It is the result of an impassioned initiative of a handful of Indian journalists spread around the world. We have taken the small step forward with the pledge to provide news with accuracy, free from political and commercial influence. Our aim is to keep you, our readers, informed about developments at ‘home’ and across the world that affect you.
Please help us to keep our journalism independent and free.
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