BUTTERFLY TWO LAST

"We had sent the photographs of the butterfly to experts
outside and to several butterfly watching groups through the
internet. All of them have confirmed that it is indeed the
highly-endangered species," Ghosh told PTI.

The confirmation that it is the Yellow-Crested Spangle
had come from eminent butterfly experts from US-based Harvard
university, he said.

The Ripu-Chirang reserve forest is the habitat of at
least 300 varieties of butterflies. Of them 10 are listed
under the Wildlife Protection Act.

As per official records, at least 62 species of
swallow-tail butterflies have been found in Assam and half of
them have been recorded in Ripu-Chirang reserve forest.

Choudhury says the species requires a particular
environment for survival which is there in the Ripu forest.

He expressed hope that another rare species of butterfly
'Moores cupid' (Shijimia moorei) would also be found there.
This species was recorded in the Khasi hills of Meghalaya
several decades earlier. PTI