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JoTT Re v i e w 4(12): 3103–3136Mammals <strong>of</strong> Kalimpong Hills, Darjeeling District,West Bengal, IndiaJayanta Kumar MallickWildlife Wing (Headquarters), Directorate <strong>of</strong> Forests, Government <strong>of</strong> West Bengal, Bikash Bhawan, North Block, Third Floor,Salt Lake City, West Bengal 700091, IndiaEmail: jayantamallick2007@rediffmail.comDate <strong>of</strong> publication (online): 10 <strong>October</strong> <strong>2012</strong>Date <strong>of</strong> publication (print): 10 <strong>October</strong> <strong>2012</strong>ISSN 0974-7907 (online) | 0974-7893 (print)Editor: L.A.K. SinghManuscript details:Ms # o2418Received 04 March 2010Final received 29 August <strong>2012</strong>Finally accepted 05 September <strong>2012</strong>Citation: Mallick, J.K. (<strong>2012</strong>). Mammals <strong>of</strong>Kalimpong Hills, Darjeeling District, WestBengal, India. <strong>Journal</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Threatened</strong> <strong>Taxa</strong> 4(12):3103–3136.Copyright: © Jayanta Kumar Mallick <strong>2012</strong>.Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 UnportedLicense. JoTT allows unrestricted use <strong>of</strong> thisarticle in any medium for non-pr<strong>of</strong>it purposes,reproduction and distribution by providingadequate credit to the authors and the source<strong>of</strong> publication.Author Details: Jay a n t a Ku m a r Ma l l i c kpostgraduated in 1974, joined the Wildlife Wing(Headquarters) in 1976 and has been working asPA to PCCF, Wildlife, West Bengal, for the last 37years. Worked in the Project <strong>of</strong> the North-EastIndia Task Force, IUCN/SSC/Elephant SpecialistGroup and also as project consultant <strong>of</strong> the IndianSociety for Wildlife Research, Kolkata. He hasbeen involved in all departmental publications,has participated in departmental workshops,undertaken a number <strong>of</strong> studies, is lookingafter departmental data bank and has morethan hundred published articles, study reports,book and book-chapter on wildlife conservation,particularly <strong>of</strong> mammals.Acknowledgements: The author expressesheartiest thanks to all those departmental fieldstaff, <strong>of</strong>ficers and other respondents who sharedtheir experiences for preparation <strong>of</strong> this studyreport. I am also grateful to Dr. Dipankar Ghose(WWF-I, New Delhi) for communicating his fieldobservations. I am especially indebted to IndranilMitra, GIS specialist, for providing digitized maps<strong>of</strong> the study area and Somnath Chakraborty forretrieving relevant data.OPEN ACCESS | FREE DOWNLOADAbstract: Neora Valley National Park (NVNP) in the Kalimpong Hills, Darjeeling District,having a wide range <strong>of</strong> altitudinal variations (183–3,200 m) and climatic conditions andforming an ecological trijunction with Sikkim and Bhutan, is the last virgin wildernessin West Bengal. It is a global hotspot for the unique ecosystem, where tropical, subtropical,temperate and sub-temperate forests represent a wealth <strong>of</strong> biodiversity includingmany threatened and rare mammals. It is the prime habitat <strong>of</strong> Ailurus fulgens (estimatedpopulation 28–32), Ne<strong>of</strong>elis nebulosa (population unassessed), Ursus thibetanus (18),Bos gaurus (81), Hemitragus jemlahicus (32), Naemorhedus goral (73), Capricornissumatraensis (89), Rusa unicolor (286), Muntiacus vaginalis (590) and Sus scr<strong>of</strong>a (615).Discovery <strong>of</strong> Panthera tigris (20) in 1998 prompted the forest department to includeNVNP as a sensitive wildlife zone. Many authors recorded the mammalian diversityin Darjeeling District since the mid-nineteenth century, but most <strong>of</strong> them referred to theDarjeeling Hills. The documentations on Kalimpong Hills are scarce because <strong>of</strong> thedense canopy, thick undergrowth and inaccessible terrain, particularly in the pristineforests <strong>of</strong> Neora Valley. Consequently, a comprehensive compendium <strong>of</strong> the mammalsin this region was not prepared. A study was undertaken in 2008–2009 with a viewto bridging this knowledge-gap and presenting an updated account <strong>of</strong> the mammalianspecies in this new short-listed World Heritage Site and surrounding forests <strong>of</strong> theKalimpong Hills based on literature review, questionnaire survey, direct sighting andindirect evidences. During June–<strong>October</strong> 1916, N.A. Baptista recorded 29 mammalianspecies (22 genera) out <strong>of</strong> 563 specimens collected, from the region. The present studyregistered 99 species (68 genera) after 94 years.Keywords: Indirect evidences, Kalimpong, literature review, mammals, Neora Valley,sighting, status.INTRODUCTIONThe Indian mammals comprise <strong>of</strong> 401 species (180 genera, 45 familiesand 13 orders), constituting about 8.6% <strong>of</strong> the global mammalian species(Alfred et al. 2006). About 47% <strong>of</strong> the Indian mammals are recordedin West Bengal (Chakraborty & Agrawal 1993). Whereas Ghosh (1992)recorded 217 species and subspecies <strong>of</strong> mammals (including the extinctspecies <strong>of</strong> the 20 th century) in the state, Agrawal et al. (1992) described188 species and subspecies (103 genera, 33 families and 12 orders). Onlytwo <strong>of</strong> them (Bengal Marsh Mongoose Herpestes palustris Ghose, 1965Abbreviations: ATREE - Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and Environment;BNHM - Bengal Natural History Museum, Darjeeling; BSI - Botanical Survey <strong>of</strong> India;FD - Forest Division; IUCN - International Union for Conservation <strong>of</strong> Nature and NaturalResources; KFD - Kalimpong Forest Division; NP - National Park; NTFP - Non-TimberForest Produce; NVNP - Neora Valley National Park; NESPON - North Eastern Societyfor the Preservation <strong>of</strong> Nature and Wildlife; SNR - Strict Nature Reserve; TE - Tea Estate;UNESCO - United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization; WBFDCL- West Bengal Forest Development Corporation Limited; WLS - Wildlife Sanctuary;WWF-I/US - World-wide Fund for Nature-India/United States; ZSI - Zoological Survey<strong>of</strong> India.<strong>Journal</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Threatened</strong> <strong>Taxa</strong> | www.threatenedtaxa.org | <strong>October</strong> <strong>2012</strong> | 4(12): 3103–3136 3103
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