Rare variety hog badgers found for first time in Tripura

The two hog badgers were shifted to the Sepahijala Wildlife Sanctuary, the largest sanctuary in the state.

For the first time ever, a rare species of hog badgers was found in Tripura at a village in Dhalai district, over 90 kilometres east of Agartala, a forest official said on Sunday.

The two baby hog badgers were found near a village in Dhalai district of Tripura. (HT PHOTO)

The hog badgers, scientifically known as ‘ Arctonyx Collaris’ are listed as an endangered species in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) , said Tapojyoti Debbarma, sub divisional forest officer (SDFO) of Ambassa.

“Three hog badger babies were recovered from a forest in Salema village by some local villagers on Saturday. They later informed the forest officials and handed them to us. We shifted them to Sepahijala Wildlife Sanctuary where they are being cared for. This is for the first time that we have spotted hog badgers in the state,” he said.

Sepahijala Wildlife Sanctuary, located nearly 25 kilometres from Agartala, is the biggest of the four sanctuaries in the state.

In India, hog badgers are found in the Northeast across a range of terrain including grasslands, mountains, tropical and evergreen forests.