JoTT REVIEW 4(12): 3103–3136 Mammals of Kalimpong Hills, Darjeeling District, West Bengal, India Jayanta Kumar Mallick Wildlife Wing (Headquarters), Directorate of Forests, Government of West Bengal, Bikash Bhawan, North Block, Third Floor, Salt Lake City, West Bengal 700091, India Email:
[email protected] Date of publication (online): 10 October 2012 Abstract: Neora Valley National Park (NVNP) in the Kalimpong Hills, Darjeeling District, Date of publication (print): 10 October 2012 having a wide range of altitudinal variations (183–3,200 m) and climatic conditions and ISSN 0974-7907 (online) | 0974-7893 (print) forming an ecological trijunction with Sikkim and Bhutan, is the last virgin wilderness in West Bengal. It is a global hotspot for the unique ecosystem, where tropical, sub- Editor: L.A.K. Singh tropical, temperate and sub-temperate forests represent a wealth of biodiversity including Manuscript details: many threatened and rare mammals. It is the prime habitat of Ailurus fulgens (estimated Ms # o2418 population 28–32), Neofelis nebulosa (population unassessed), Ursus thibetanus (18), Received 04 March 2010 Bos gaurus (81), Hemitragus jemlahicus (32), Naemorhedus goral (73), Capricornis Final received 29 August 2012 sumatraensis (89), Rusa unicolor (286), Muntiacus vaginalis (590) and Sus scrofa (615). Finally accepted 05 September 2012 Discovery of Panthera tigris (20) in 1998 prompted the forest department to include NVNP as a sensitive wildlife zone. Many authors recorded the mammalian diversity Citation: Mallick, J.K. (2012). Mammals of Kalimpong Hills, Darjeeling District, West in Darjeeling District since the mid-nineteenth century, but most of them referred to the Bengal, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 4(12): Darjeeling Hills.