Three cat-family cubs spotted near Assam's Charaideo Moidams

Three cubs from the cat family have been seen near the UNESCO-listed Charaideo Moidams in eastern Assam, prompting the Forest Department to increase its watch in the area, state forest minister Jayanta Malla Baruah said on Sunday.

Local residents spotted the animals on Saturday. Their exact species has not been established, the minister said in a social media post that included photographs of the sighting. He said the cubs could be tigers, leopards or another species.

A Forest Department team has already visited the site to take stock and put precautions in place, Baruah said, according to a Press Trust of India report carried by ThePrint.

Stay back, the minister said

Baruah asked residents and tourists to be careful and to keep a safe distance from the animals. He warned people not to go near them, chase them or gather in crowds that could block or disturb their movement, and requested that any further sightings be reported promptly to forest officials.

"Wildlife protection requires awareness, patience and responsible behaviour," he said, adding that the sighting was a reminder of the need to protect the natural surroundings of the historic burial ground. The government's job, he said, was to safeguard wildlife while also looking after the safety of local communities and visitors.

Forest staff will have to identify the species before any longer-term steps, such as monitoring the mother or moving the cubs, can be considered. Until then, the official advice is to leave the animals alone.

A World Heritage landscape

The Charaideo Moidams, the burial mounds of Ahom kings and queens, were added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2024. The necropolis has about 90 mound-burial structures built over vaults of brick, stone or earth, often with shrines on top and octagonal walls around them.

The Tai-Ahoms, who arrived in the Brahmaputra valley in the thirteenth century, made Charaideo their first capital and royal graveyard. Over the following six centuries they built the Moidams into the surrounding hills, forests and water bodies rather than clearing the landscape around them.

That wooded setting is part of why a big-cat sighting here is not entirely surprising, even if the animals themselves have not yet been identified. Charaideo district was carved out of Sivasagar and remains one of Assam's smaller districts, with the Moidams among its best-known landmarks and a growing draw for visitors since the UNESCO inscription.

Sunday's alert is a reminder that the heritage site sits inside a living landscape. Visitors who come to see the mounds over the coming days are being asked to treat any wildlife they encounter as wild, not as a spectacle, and to call forest officials rather than try to take a closer look.