Fauna

Mizoram which has been a home to a wide variety of wild animals in the past now has dwindling numbers of animals on account of habitat losses for most animal species. Large scale destruction of habitats due to jhumming, urbanisation and exploitation of resources for forest based industries are only some of the factors that have contributed in accelerating the loss of wildlife habitats. As a result, the wild species are now generally confined within the interior of the forests. During the course of the survey specially undertaken to collect evidences of wildlife species occurring in the project area, no wildlife species could be sighted in the project site. Even the indirect wildlife evidences have been absent from the project area. The highly degraded fragmented scrub forests in the project area have limited potential to support any species of high conservation value. This fact has also been substantiated by the records of the State Forest Department. As per the report on the distribution status of wildlife species in the project area provided by the State Forest Department, only six species of mammals i.e. Barking deer (Muntiacus muntjak), Wildboar (Sus scrofa), Civet (Viverridae sp.) Jungle cat (Felis chaus), Jackal (Canis aureus) and Common fox (Vulpes bengalensis) have been reported from the project area. None of the species listed above fall under the Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act (1972).

In the absence of any systematic wildlife surveys conducted in the area in the past, it is difficult to establish the presence or population trends of smaller ground dwelling fauna. Yet this cannot completely rule out the presence or occasional occurrence of a few species of snakes and smaller mammals.

The traditional hunting/gathering life style of the Mizo people and their dependence on forest for natural resources have probably left very few surviving individuals of wildlife populations to have any conservation significance. There are no national parks or sanctuaries located near the project area. The nearest one is Dampa Wildlife Sanctuary, which is about 80km away.