Kolkata, Nov 25 (LatestNewsX) — After more than seventy years, a new camera photograph of a musk deer appeared in the Neora Valley National Park in Kalimpong district, West Bengal.
Because the species is so scarce, the forest department’s staff are thrilled to have secured another visual record from the West Bengal mountains. The mammal had not been seen in the state since 1955.
“A two‑year survey conducted by the Wildlife Institute of India found presence of musk deer in the forests of Neora Valley,” said Bhaskar J. V., chief conservator of forests (wildlife) for north Bengal. “Following the survey, around 50 trap cameras were installed in different places in the hills, where images of the endangered musk deer surfaced.”
The officials stressed that further research is essential. They are waiting for additional details, including the exact species and population count.
The department notes the last sighting of the musk deer occurred in 1955 at Darjeeling’s Singalila National Park.
In the 2023‑24 Red Panda census carried out by the Wildlife Institute of India at an elevation of 3,112 m in Neora Valley National Park, a trail camera captured the deer on December 17, 2024. When the footage was reviewed, forest officials were astonished by the evidence of the animal’s presence in the hills.
The musk deer is listed as Endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List. Besides Neora Valley, it can also be found in the forests of Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Sikkim and Uttarakhand.
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