In a first in India, Bengal maps twin wolf corridors near industrial town Durgapur

Kolkata: After elephant corridors, Bengal has successfully mapped two wolf corridors — a first such initiative — decoding movement patterns of urban wolves near industrial town Durgapur, less than 200 km from Kolkata.Not only in Bengal, such a corridor-mapping — part of Indian grey wolf conservation project in West Burdwan — is probably the first of its kind in India.Durgapur-based Wildlife Information and Nature Guide Society (WINGS), with help of the Bengal forest dept and the WWF-India, has successfully mapped presence of at least 30 wolves in four packs, using the corridors connecting West and East Burdwan.Earlier in 2024, a study on elusive Indian wolf in south Bengal had unearthed presence of approximately 15-24 of the animals near Durgapur.According to Arkajyoti Mukherjee, ecologist and secretary of WINGS, the corridors identified are forests of Madhaiganj-Kantaberia to Garh Jungle of West Burdwan — the intra-district corridor — and forests under Ukhra and Durgapur ranges of West Burdwan to those under Panagarh, Durgapur and Guskara ranges in East Burdwan — the inter-district corridor. Forests under Durgapur range are spread over both East and West Burdwan."We found the highest abundance in the corridors — each stretching over 10 kilometres — in the past one and a half years," he added. "The study identified two core breeding habitats and several rendezvous sites — a location wolves use to care for pups after they have outgrown the den," said Manish Kumar Chattopadhyay, lead field expert.A recent Wildlife Institute of India (WII) study estimated around 3,000 Indian wolves remaining in the wild.Qamar Qureshi, former scientist with WII, said: "Wolves are landscape species. The space they use to move from one forest patch to another doesn't always fall under protected areas. So, identifying wolf corridors will help shift policymakers' attention to lesser-studied species like wolves. Species like hyenas and Bengal foxes also share grasslands with wolves — a habitat that is degrading fast."Researchers have also done analysis of wolves' dietary behaviour through micro-histological scat studies. "It revealed a diet dominated by livestock (goat and sheep), with evidence of scavenging on cow and buffalo remains. Rodent bones (likely Indian hare) and bird remains (likely Indian peafowl) were also found," said Arnish Bose, lead field expert. The researchers have also started installing fladry deterrent flags — brightly coloured flags that hang close together, creating a moving, fluttering barrier — in some conflict-prone areas in West Burdwan. According to Mukherjee, wolves are naturally cautious of new sights, sounds, and movements. Kalyan Das, ex-chief conservator of forests under whose tenure the field work started, said during routine soil conservation work in Ukhra and Durgapur in 2017, the staff had first reported about sporadic sightings of wolves.