Five newborn jungle cats (Felis chaus), who somehow got separated from their mother, were spotted in a village field under Kumargram police station, around 35km from Alipurduar, on Tuesday.
Villagers of Nararthali alerted Buxa Tiger Reserve (BTR) officials.
A team of foresters went to the spot and installed a trap camera.
That night, the mother showed up and took the cubs to the BTR forests.
Sources said some farmers of Nararthali, on the fringes of the tiger reserve, were harvesting paddy when they spotted the cubs.
“We felt it necessary to let the cubs stay undisturbed and stopped our work. There was fear that if we continued our work, the cubs might panic and stray into the village. Then we informed foresters,” said a villager.
Foresters clicked pictures of the cubs and sent them to experts who confirmed that they were jungle cat cubs.
“There are jungle cats in BTR but they hardly go out of the forest. It seems the mother cat had chosen a deserted field for breeding,” said a forester.
He thanked the villagers for acting responsibly.
“It was clear that the cubs were newborns and wouldn’t survive without their mother. So, we wanted a calm environment for the mother to come and take her cubs,” he said.
The trap camera recorded the mother taking the cubs.
“We thank the villagers for acting in a responsible manner. They left the cubs undisturbed and also cooperated with us which is why the strategy worked,” said B. Sewa, the field director of BTR.