WHAT TO MAKE OF OUR EVER-INCREASING ENCOUNTERS WITH LEOPARDS

haphazard ways causing even more problems. Thousands of leopards haunt human settlements in an effort to feed on dogs or sheep and goats. Hundreds of humans are mauled, injured or killed each year. How on earth do we mitigate this conflict so that man and leopard can live more peacefully?

Firstly, we must accept the fact that leopards and people will live together right across India. There is no magic wand that will change this. Our only intervention is to make this relationship more peaceful so that the conflict between both is eased. There are more than 30 states and union territories that have to prioritise their interventions in order to do this. On my suggestion, the Rajasthan government started Project Leopard two years ago with a view to solve some of these problems. There are now eight designated Project Leopard reserves in Rajasthan including two around Udaipur and Jaipur with the primary mission of resolving conflict. Every state in India must start their Project Leopard areas to focus on this remarkable species.

There are some amazing examples to learn from, like the Jawai area in Rajasthan where tourism and conservation work hand in hand supported fully by local communi- ties and without forest department’s interference. What the state governments must do is to create mobile rescue units, at least 1000 across India, to rush to the aid of both people and leopards in times of need. Science and good field research will play a critical role in making the work of these units effective and useful. Prompt compensation when leopards do damage will be essential in harmonising the relationship between the two.

Another vital strategy that must come into play with this new focus is the ability to restock some of our empty forest tracts with prey-food for the leopard. Doing this requires breeding farms for deer and outsourced to non governmental bodies. Australia breeds hundreds of thousands of Sambar deer. Surely, we can have our own breeding farms for spotted deer and so much more. The future lies in thinking out of the box and changing redundant policy.

State of the art protection is vital and finances can be raised by intelligent leopard tourism. Where there is a will there is a way. If such measures are not brought in the leopard in India is doomed to die.

Valmik Thapar has worked for 43 years with the big cats

both in India and Africa and has written 34 books