Assam: Rare Barca snakehead fish rescued in Kaziranga

In a time, when the rare Barca snakehead fish is on the brink of extinction, a young man in Kaziranga has rescued one of these rare fish and showed his responsibility towards the conservation of nature. 

This rare species of fish known as ‘Channa Barca’ or ‘Pipli Cheng’ has been rescued by Nitul Bauri on November 18 in Kaziranga. 

Nitul Bauri, a local resident of Kahora in Kaziranga found the fish while fishing in a lake near Kahora. 

He said that he did not recognize the fish at first, but, when he found the fish slightly different from other fish, he was sure that it is certainly a rare species and immediately informed nature lover Babul Sharma about the matter.  

When Babul Sharma recognized the fish, they handed it over to the Forest Officer of Kaziranga National Park Bibhuti Kumar Gogoi.

The Forest Department lauded the efforts of the local youth and said the forest department will soon give a special map for the conservation of nature. 

It is be noted that several miscreants who are trying to smuggle this rare species have been caught by the forest department earlier. 

This snakehead fish is attractive to look at and has high ornamental value amongst specialist aquarists, in national and international markets. Since it is rarely available and restricted to only a particular region of the Brahmaputra basin, it has become extremely expensive over the years and is now counted as one of the most expensive fish in the world. Overall, it has been assessed as data deficient by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and in 2014 it was assessed by the body as critically endangered due to habitat loss in Bangladesh.