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Updated: Sep 09, 2019 16:17 IST

A departmental enquiry has been initiated against a forest guard in West Bengal after photos of him posing with a rescued king cobra around his neck got circulated.

“An enquiry has been initiated against the forest guard,” Kumar Vimal, divisional forest officer, Jaldapara National Park said. The incident happened in Alipurduar district near the border with Bhutan.

“The forest staff are experienced and skilled in catching poisonous snakes and dangerous animals. However, posing with a venomous snake for the camera is never a good idea and could be extremely dangerous,” added the DFO.

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Wildlife activists pointed out that such acts by forest department employees also defeat the campaign of the department that the common people should not harass or irritate animals in the wild or in a zoo.

“This is not only dangerous but also unethical. It is unfortunate if forest department employees do such things just for getting applause on social media. These acts send negative messages to the people,” Animesh Bose, programme coordinator, Himalayan Nature and Adventure Foundation, an NGO based in Siliguri said.

On Thursday night, the forest staff at Lankapara range under Jaldapara National Park (JNP) in Alipurduar district, about 690 km away from Kolkata received a message that a king cobra was spotted at a village near the Indo-Bhutan border.

A team of six to seven forest employees, including forest guards, reached the area near Lankapara Tea Estate, about 43 km from the district headquarters of Alipurduar.

Though it was late at night, a large crowd gathered at the spot and the foresters managed to rescue the snake that was about 10 feet long.

However, before releasing it into the deep forest, one of the guards took the snake and garlanded himself with it and posed for the cameras. The photos and the video went viral drawing the attention of the department officials.

One of the most venomous snakes, the king cobra is found in different parts of Alipurduar district.

In a similar incident in June 2018, Sanjay Dutta, forest ranger of Belacoba range in Jalpaiguri district was caught posing with an 18-foot python in a village of Jalpaiguri district in north Bengal.