Bengal: BSF foils smuggling bid at India-Bangladesh border, rescues rare wild cat

Kolkata, Aug 23 (PTI) The BSF foiled a smuggling attempt along the India-Bangladesh border in West Bengal's Nadia district and rescued a rare wild cat, suspected to be an African Serval Cat, an official statement said on Saturday.

According to the statement issued by the BSF's South Bengal Frontier, the incident took place in the early hours of August 22 when troops of the 56th battalion deployed at Natna forward border outpost noticed suspicious movement of five to six smugglers near the international border.

The troops challenged the suspected smugglers and moved towards them. On spotting the BSF personnel, the smugglers fled back towards Bangladesh, taking advantage of dense vegetation, the statement said.

The BSF troops then conducted a search of the area and seized a wooden box in which a rare wild cat, suspected to be an African Serval Cat, was found alive.

The rescued animal was handed over to the Forest Department for further action.

"The alertness and timely action of BSF personnel thwarted an attempt at wildlife smuggling," the South Bengal Frontier said.

Officials said the exact species of the cat will be confirmed by the Forest Department. The African Serval Cat is a medium-sized wild feline native to Africa and is occasionally trafficked due to demand in the illegal exotic pet trade. PTI PNT ACD