Assam: Mascot “Udal” — a Hispid Hare to woo voters in Udalguri launched

Udalguri: In a bid to encourage the voters to turn in large numbers and exercise their franchise in the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls, the Udalguri district administration unveiled the election mascot of the district — “Udal” a Hispid Hare, an endangered animal, which is on the verge of extinction for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections for the Darrang-Udalguri Lok Sabha seat at the district commissioner’s office in Udalguri on Thursday.

The mascot donning traditional Bodo attire and a Bihuwan on its neck representing the diverse traditional heritage was unveiled by Udalguri District Commissioner and DEO, Javir Rahul Suresh under the Systematic Voters Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) project, in the Udalguri election district.

Former Wildlife Warden and conservationist, Jayanta Kumar Das expressing happiness over the selection of the endangered species asserted that it would go way long in highlighting the conservation efforts of the species.

“The hispid hare (Caprolagus hispidus), also called Assam rabbit has been classified as an endangered species by the IUCN since 1986 and it occupies the dense, tall grassland commonly called elephant grass along the southern Himalayan foothills of Nepal, Bangladesh, and India,” added conservationist, Das.

Pertinently, the Bornadi wildlife sanctuary located in the foothills of Bhutan spread over 26.22 square km covering Udalguri and Baksa district was formed to protect the endangered hispid hare (Caprolagus hispidus) and Pygmy hog (Porcula salvania) way back in 1980.