Camera traps a footage of Snow Leopard at the exact same location which earlier recorded Royal Bengal Tiger for the very first in Sikkim
Jan 10, 2019:
DECHEN LACHUNGPA
Divisional Forest Officer,
East Wildlife Division
It was a moment of elation for the State of Sikkim when for the very first time the Royal Bengal Tiger was photographed on the night of 6th and 28th December 2018 inside the Pangolakha Wildlife Sanctuary, East Sikkim.
Once again for the very first time, on 2nd January 2019 at 4:22 pm, the East Wildlife Division have managed to capture on camera the majestic Snow Leopard near Goru Jurey inside the Pangolakha Wildlife Sanctuary at an altitude of 9583 ft. This very elusive and shy animal had earlier been captured on camera in the northern and western parts of Sikkim. However this is the first photographic capture of Snow Leopard in East Sikkim. It is interesting to note that the very same camera trap had, at the same location, last month also captured Sikkim’s first image of the Royal Bengal Tiger.
This image capture of both the Royal Bengal Tiger and the Snow Leopard in the exact same location confirms the overlap in the migratory routes used by the Big Cats inside Pangolakha. The Snow Leopard is a Schedule 1 animal and is listed as 'endangered' by International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Snow Leopard occupies the alpine and sub-alpine areas.
Besides Big Cats, there are many such wild animals that have been captured on camera and is currently being documented with funds received from the JICA-assisted Sikkim Biodiversity Conservation and Forest Management Project. Such richness in diversity of faunal elements and presence of scheduled animals inside Sikkim’s forests speaks well of the far-sighted pro-environment policies of the State government.
Deep appreciation is due to the Field Forest Officers of the North Pangolakha Wildlife Range, East Wildlife Division led by Range Officer Roshan Tamang who managed to place the camera traps in strategic location so as to capture these significant images.
» Also See (Related News) First-ever camera footage of Royal Bengal Tiger in Sikkim