Forest officials stunned to find group of baby kangaroos in Indian jungle

Officials say the animals were transported in cramped spaces and left by the road by traffickers

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Officials in India’s eastern state of West Bengal were stunned to find a group of kangaroos hopping about, an animal largely native to Australia.

On Friday, they reportedly found three kangaroos in the forests bordering the state’s Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri districts, and on the following day, they found the carcass of another kangaroo nearby.

The rescued kangaroos had serious injuries and have been sent to the state’s Bengal Safari Park for further treatment.

A forest official said an investigation has been initiated to find how the marsupials got there.

“They are not present in any zoo in this area. They are part of smuggling. Later seized. In zoo now for safe custody,” Parveen Kaswan, an Indian Forest Service official, said.

“Last month also two were arrested with a kangaroo,” he added.

While no arrests have yet been made in connection to the incident, officials say the kangaroos were transported in cramped spaces and left on the roadside when smugglers found there were security checks in their way.

“We have initiated further investigation for ascertaining the whereabouts of these Kangaroos, by whom and how they were brought into the forest along with finding the cause behind bringing them,” S Dutta, Range Officer of the forest, told news agency ANI.

The Baikunthpur Forest Division is in the south of the Himalayan foothills and lies between the Mahananda River to the west and Teesta River to the east.

Its forests are partly in the Darjeeling district and partly in the Jalpaiguri district and make up an important ecological zone that is home to many migratory birds and wild elephants.

Debal Roy, principal chief conservator of forest and chief wildlife warden-North Bengal told the Indian newspaper The Hindu that security has been increased on the roads to apprehend wildlife smugglers after inputs from informants of wildlife trafficking in the area.

A fortnight ago, forest officials seized another kangaroo in north Bengal and arrested two people, residents of the south Indian city of Hyderabad, suspecting them of links with wildlife trafficking, as per the news website ThePrint.