The Bhutanese Leading the way.
A Civet cat while on the hunt for food preyed and attacked around seven to eight chickens in Lingmithang in Mongar on the night of the 24th September at around 2 am in the morning. According to the source, after some of the households were awoken by the alarming cackling of the chickens, the owner of the chickens along with his neighbors pelted stones aimlessly at the vague creature in the dark while it was attacking their chickens. “They started pelting stones at the animal in dark without using torch, but I guess their intention was to just scare the Cat and chase it away to save the rest of the chickens,” said a local who preferred not to be named.
Although the creature seemed to have fled the scene after being hit with the stones, it was found dead on the morning of 25th at around 25 meters away from the scene. The Divisional Forest Officer of Mongar, Kado Tshering said that the case has not been reported to the Division and that they were only aware after someone posted the incident on social media. “We will ask our forestry officials to carry a case study on the issue and work accordingly,” said Kado Tshering.
The Civet cat spotted in the locality of Limithang is native to South and Southeast Asia. The global population is considered decreasing mainly because of trapping-driven declines in heavily hunted and fragmented areas, notably in China, and the heavy trade as wild meat, but its population in Bhutan is not at stake. The large cat is solitary and nocturnal in behavior. It spends most of the time on the ground and its diet includes fish, birds, lizards, frogs, insects, scorpions and crabs, as well as poultry and rubbish.
On the same day, wildlife rescue team rescued a male black bear from Bjemina in Thimphu after it was found trapped inside the mesh of a field. The rescue team managed to immobilize the bear to set free its right hind limb which was stuck in the snare, thus preventing the giant from any further major injuries. “The same bear seems to be have been entangled inside the snare earlier and it must have escaped, as the team found snare scars on his left fore limbs,” stated an official from the rescue team. The bear which weighed 125 kilograms was released back in the forest after taking its detailed measurements. The wildlife rescue team rescued six black bears in September alone.
