In a rare incident, a honey badger or 'Ratel' was spotted in Mahal village under Kujang forest range in Jagatsinghpur district of Odisha, said a forest official on Thursday. The rare species is known as honey badger for their fondness for feeding on honey and honeybee larvae.

The honey badger was sighted inside a beetle vine near the village late at night on July 6. The villagers spotted the rare honey badger in the morning as it had got ensnared in a trap set up by the farmers to catch animals which dig up soil damaging their betel vine cultivation.

Reports said when villagers found a creature trapped in the snare, which they were unable to identify, they recorded a video of the animal on a mobile phone camera before releasing it from the trap. The creature fled into the forest immediately but the video helped forest officials identify it as  honey badger, which is perceived as a threat by local betel vine cultivators.

Rare honey badger spotted in Odisha

Later they contacted local forest department staff. The concerned foresters and other staff have already engaged in village-level awareness drives, said principal chief conservator of forest (wildlife) Shashi Paul.

As it is rarely documented in coastal districts like Jagatsinghpur, the villagers got frightened. Therefore, the villagers have been told not to cause any harm to this 'Ratel' as this is a small carnivore which feeds upon insects, eggs of birds, small rodents, snakes and frogs, he said.

'Ratel' or honey badger or ('Gadabhalu' in Odia) is a small carnivore present in most parts of the country in very low density. It is a schedule 1 animal under Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.

The animal was very rarely sighted in Odisha although often documented in Similipal through camera traps. More awareness will be created for the conservation of this small rare non-harmful Ratel species in Odisha, forest department sources said.

(With inputs from IANS)

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