Delhi’s famous Khan Market was in a spin after a Qabar Bijju — a rare nocturnal gravedigger — entered the central parking area on Friday morning. It is for the first time that the wild animal ‘Civet’ (scientific name Qabar Bijju) was rescued from the area by wildlife officials, but not before it sent the entire market into a tizzy. later, the animal was freed in Asola Wildlife Sanctuary.
The incident was reported around 10.30 am. The animal, which feeds on corpses, possibly strayed from cemeteries situated in the vicinity. The market, which is frequented by who’s who of the Capital, is believed to have been developed on a graveyard of the Mughal era. This is one of the reasons that the area is plagued by giant rats, which often trouble the locals. Residents in the area often complain about rodent attacks on their pets.
Shakir Khan, a parking attendant, who witnessed the entire episode, said that a peculiar animal came from the direction of graveyard and clung onto a tree. “The shops had just started to open and there were quite a number of people present in the market and as the news of a wild animal straying into the complex spread like wildfire, people scurried for cover. later, over 500 people had gathered to take a look at the animal,” he said.
Kartick Satyanarayan, co-founder of the ‘Wildlife-SOS’, said it is unusual sight as the Civet is not sighted during the day as it is a nocturnal animal. “This also indicates that bio-diversity still exists in Delhi. Rampant construction has killed habitat of these animals as a result they intrude into human habitat,” he said, adding that it is a myth that the animal feeds on corpse.
The police was informed and a wildlife rescue team of ‘Wildlife-SOS’ was also called in, Harshad Solanki, coordinator of the NGO, told The Pioneer. “It is shy animal and it is not a threat to human being. It usually stays in trunk in green belt area and strays into human inhabitant in search of food. There are cemeteries in the neighbourhood of the market, maybe the animal is from there. It might have come from lodhi Garden area or the Golf Course area since they have thick green foliage,”
Phool Chand, who was also part of the rescue team, said, “First, it was spotted on a tree then a person was sent to bring it down. Since the height was out of reach we asked the police officials for help. We managed to get a bamboo stick and shooed it.” The civet then jumped down and hid under a Maruti Suzuki car and later made way to the engine. It was rescued from bonnet of the car, he added.
