27th July 2020 – A rarely sighted Asian small-clawed otter created anxiety and curiosity amongst the locals of Simlabari under Patlakhawa Block. The animal was found hopping from one pond to the other. It was toil on the part of the forest officials to cage the animal.
The otter is marked as a vulnerable species in the IUCN Red Data Book (an international list mentioning population status of animal species).
When the animal was spotted in a pond at Patlakhawa by some local people, they informed the forest department.
A team from the Chilapata forest range of Jaldapara wildlife division led by range officer Sandip Das soon arrived to rescue the animal.
Otters are hardly sighted in the region. How the otter found its way to Patlakhawa is bewildered, everybody. It is likely due to heavy showers the otter may have come down from Bhutan Hills into the Torsha River and reached Simlabari.
