Jharkhand

• 02 Feb 2023

Wild Dog Disappeared from Jharkhand's Betla National Park

Why In News?

According to information received from media sources on February 1, 2023, Wild Dogs i.e., Koiya, which were found in the number of about 200 in Betla National Park of Jharkhand, have now disappeared, they have not been seen since 2010.

Key points

• According to information, since the establishment of Palamu Tiger Reserve in 1974, there was a continuous presence of wild dogs in Betla National Park. If experts are to be believed, koiyas became extinct due to rabies disease.
• The wild dog found in Betla National Park is called 'Koiya' in the local language. Now it has been declared as an endangered species. After the year 2010, he has not been seen till now. Earlier, hundreds of wild dogs were seen in Betla National Park. From Betla to the forests of Bare sad, it used to come and go.
• Wildlife expert Dr. DS Srivastava says that one of the main reasons for the extinction of wild dogs from Betla is rabies. Wild dogs may also have been infected and died due to infection in the water they drank from the domestic dog.
• Significantly, there is a cave of big stones near Nunahi Grass Plot of Betla National Park. Wild dogs used to reside in these caves only. These people used to hide in the cave here after hunting. Not only this, in the evening, wild dogs used to sit on big stones, which were visited by tourists.
• Wild dogs hunted wild animals in a planned manner. His favourite food was sambhar and deer. They lived in flocks when they had to hunt, they surrounded the prey from all sides.
• Betla's guides say that many times a group of wild dogs used to reach in front of the main gate to catch the deer and surround them and attack them and kill them.