Tiger skins, poaching records and British-era maps lost in Alipore building fire

A major fire at the New Administrative Building in Alipore, South 24 Parganas, on Wednesday morning destroyed wildlife crime evidence, poaching records and decades of historical documents stored in the Divisional Forest Office. The fire broke out at around 9:30 a.m. and severely damaged several offices within the Zilla Parishad building. Among the worst-affected sections was the forest office, where evidence seized from wildlife poachers and records related to criminal investigations had been preserved for legal proceedings.

The third floor of the building housed a legal cell that maintained records of alleged poachers operating across various islands of the Sundarbans region. The office also stored wildlife articles recovered during forest department operations, including six tiger skins, four deer skins, deer antlers, crocodile teeth and wild boar tusks. These items had been seized during anti-poaching operations and were preserved as evidence in wildlife crime cases registered against the accused.

The Divisional Forest Office supervised range offices across South 24 Parganas and contained extensive records linked to forest administration in the Sundarbans. The office also preserved documents connected to the Sundarbans Tiger Project, including records dating back to before the declaration of the Sundarbans Tiger Reserve under Project Tiger in 1973. According to forest department officials, historical land maps of South 24 Parganas preserved since the British era and important employee records were also destroyed in the blaze.

State Forest Minister Manoj Oraon said senior officials had been directed to examine the incident and assess the full extent of the damage. Authorities have begun evaluating losses suffered by the department, including the destruction of evidence, records and historical documents. The cause of the fire and the extent of any impact on ongoing wildlife crime investigations remain under assessment.