Rare bearcat found in Assam

A bearcat, a rare species of climbing mammal, was captured in Assam's Nagaon district and shifted to a rehabilitation centre, officials said Wednesday.

"The sub-adult male (around 1.5-metre-long) had reportedly entered a house in Aahomgaon village on the outskirts of Laokhowa Wildlife Sanctuary, in Nagaon district," an official said.

"The locals then handed it over to the police, who in turn informed the forest department," said an official.

The bearcat, also called 'binturong', has been shifted to the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC), near Kaziranga national park in Assam's Golaghat district.

Officials said this is for the first time in the CWRC's decade-long history that this species has showed up.

"One of our veterinarians brought the animal from Nagaon to CWRC in Golaghat. The animal appears healthy except that it is blinded in one eye, which looks like a congenital deformity. We are hoping to release the animal and possibly monitor it to learn more about this rare mammal," said veterinarian Anjan Talukdar.

Threatened by habitat loss and poaching, this species inhabits areas south of Brahmaputra river in northeast India.