PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE/ Ramnagar
An image of hyena, considered extremely rare in Uttarakhand’s forests, has emerged from camera traps installed for tiger census operations in the forests of Terai West Forest Division, surprising foresters and wildlife experts.
The divisional forest officer (DFO), Prakash Chandra Arya informed on Monday that camera traps had been installed at various locations in January as part of the ongoing tiger estimation exercise. “The hyena’s presence was recorded in the forest area under Aampokhra Range,” he said.
“Sightings of hyenas in Uttarakhand are very rare. Their presence was confirmed in Ramnagar Forest Division in 2012 and then in 2021, a similar record was reported from Kalagarh Tiger Reserve. Since then, there has been no clear evidence of the presence of this species in the region,” he added.
According to the forest officials, hyenas prefer living in groups and are known to be highly intelligent predators. They are capable of snatching prey even from large carnivores such as tigers. Officials believe that more than one hyena may possibly be present in the forest area.
In view of this development, the Forest department has installed more than a dozen additional camera traps to assess the actual population of the species. The DFO further said that once accurate data is available, a concrete conservation plan will be formulated. “
The tiger census work is ongoing in the Terai West Forest Division and there are strong indications of increasing tiger population in the region. The presence of a hyena is being seen as an important indicator of ecological balance and biodiversity in the forest ecosystem. The Forest department is continuously monitoring the camera traps to gather further evidence,” he noted.
