Foresters of the Kurseong division reunited a female leopard with its two cubs at a tea estate near Bagdogra late on Friday evening.

Sources said that on Friday morning, the workers of Muni tea estate, which is around 17km from here, spotted two leopard cubs in the plantations.

The workers informed the estate’s managerial staff, who in turn, passed the information on to the foresters.

“As we learnt that the cubs were left alone in the tea estate, we were confident that the mother leopard would return in search of them sooner or later. To ensure that the mother and the cubs do not feel disturbed, we asked the garden authorities to suspend all work in that area of the tea plantation. Also, a trap camera was installed on the spot to track the movement of the leopard cubs and the mother,” said a forest official.

He added that they had to be patient. Around 8pm, the mother leopard turned up.

“The mother leopard’s movement was captured on the trap camera. We checked the footage and found that the mother took the cubs by the scruff of their necks and left the spot along with them,” the forester added.

Timber arrest

Foresters of the Belakoba range under the Baikunthapur forest division seized an illegal consignment of teak from NH27 in Panikauri area of Jalpaiguri district on Saturday.

Foresters said they intercepted a truck on the highway and asked the driver for documents.

Their suspicions were aroused when Ritesh Kumar Jahari, the driver from Raipur in Chhattisgarh, failed to produce any document.

Foresters arrested Jahari and seized the truck. “The probe revealed the timber was loaded in Assam’s Guwahati and was on its way to Chhattisgarh,” said a forester.