October 2012 - Journal of Threatened Taxa

Mammals of Kalimpong Hillsand even low-lying swamps. It prefers the alpineforests. It is a common weasel in the hills and wassighted in NVNP during the recent survey.55. Mustela strigidorsa Gray, 1855 (subspeciesnone): Siberian Stripe-backed Weasel (Mukhopadhyay1996, Singhal & Mukhopadhyay 1998; Biswas et al.1999).It is found in the temperate forest, open grasslandand scrub jungles of upper Rechila chawk area. It isvery rare in the study area and no evidences of thisspecies were found during the current survey.Family: Ailuropodidae: PandasSubfamily: Ailurinae: Panda bearsGenus: Ailurus F. Cuvier, 1825: Lesser panda56. Ailurus fulgens fulgens F. Cuvier, 1825: RedPanda or Cat Bear (Biswas & Ghose 1982; Tikader1983; Sharma 1990; Agrawal et al. 1992; Saha et al.1992; Mukhopadhyay 1996, Singhal & Mukhopadhyay1998; Singhal 1999; Choudhury 2001; Prince 2003;Chaudhuri & Sarkar 2003; Wright 2004; Ghose et al.2007; Anonymous 2008; UNESCO World HeritageCentre 2009; downloaded on 10November 2009; Mallick 2010b).The Red Panda is a focal species for conservationin the Himalayan temperate forests and an umbrellaspecies for the sub-alpine forests. The undisturbedforest of NVNP is the last remaining good habitatfor the Red Panda. It occurs sporadically in NVNP(Tikader 1983; Saha & Singhal 1996). It is foundin the high forests, particularly the deciduous andconiferous types, usually with an under-storey ofbamboo above 1,524m. During the recent surveys, thehigher elevation of temperate zone, namely Raschet,Rechila and Thosum, is found to be the abode of thisspecies. Earlier, it was recorded from Mouchowki.It was also reported from Pankasari in KFD. But itssighting is very rare in the study area.In March 2000, a sick Red Panda was rescued fromNVNP. But it died on the way to PNHZP. An adultmale was found dead at Pankhasari-1 compartment(Lava Range, KFD) on 11 May 2008. Presence ofthe Red Pandas in NVNP was confirmed in WWF-I,Eastern Region-funded survey report. From theevidences gathered during the first systematicsurvey of the Red Panda in NVNP [Ashoka Trustfor Research in Ecology and Environment (ATREE)team in 2006 (Anon 2008)], 28–32 Red Pandas wereJ.K. Mallickestimated for the upper NVNP. Photograph of onewas taken at Rhenock 4b and another was sighted atRechila-2 in December 2008. It was also reported thatin 2009 eleven sightings were recorded in five out of25 compartments of NVNP (particularly Rashet- 3,4;Rechila- 11, 12 and Rhenock- 4b) within 2,350-3,170m.Family: Ursidae Fischer, 1817: BearsSubfamily: Ursinae Fischer, 1817: BearsGenus: Melursus Meyer, 1793: Sloth bears57. Melursus ursinus ursinus Shaw, 1791: SlothBear (Sharma 1990; Saha et al. 1992; Chaudhuri &Sarkar 2003; Yadav 2004).In the late 19 th and early 20 th century, the Sloth Bearwas common in the foothills. Now, it is a rare speciesdue to destruction of the habitat and poaching. Earlier,it was reported from Samsing and Mouchowki. Itspugmarks were also seen there. No evidences of thisnocturnal species were found during the recent fieldsurvey.Genus: Ursus Linnaeus, 1758: Asiatic BlackBears.58. Ursus (Selenarctos) thibetanus lanigerPocock, 1932: Asiatic or Himalayan Black Bear(Biswas & Ghose 1982; Ghose 1985; Sharma 1990;Agrawal et al. 1992; Saha et al. 1992; Mukhopadhyay1996, Raha 1996; Singhal & Mukhopadhyay 1998;Biswas et al. 1999; Servheen et al. 1999; Singhal1999; Sathyakumar 2001; Chaudhuri & Sarkar 2003;Wright 2004; Yadav 2004; Chakraborty et al. 2008a;Chakraborty et al. 2008b; UNESCO World HeritageCentre 2009; downloaded on 10November 2009).It is a nocturnal species. The survey conducted byKisor Chaudhuri (WWF-I, Eastern Region) confirmedpresence of this species in NVNP. This bear was earlierseen at Mouchowki. It is recorded as common in NVNP.It was sighted and feeding evidences were found at EastNar- 18, 21, 23a; Thosum- 1, 4; and Rechila- 7, 11, 12compartments during the recent survey. Its obliteratedtracks were also observed at Jorepokhari. Scats werecollected at Rechila- 13 compartments (27 0 07’37.5”N& 88 0 43’37.5”E). The population in NVNP wasestimated to be 18 ( downloaded on10 November 2009).In the summer, it inhabits in deciduous and mixedJournal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | October 2012 | 4(12): 3103–31363119