Man-leopard conflict haunts villagers in Tehri district
MUSSOORIE: Human deaths in leopard attacks in Uttarakhand’s Tehri district and the subsequent shooting down of the big cat by the forest department have brought back the focus on man-leopard conflict in the area.
The leopard killed a 54-yearold man, Rajendra Singh, from Pasar village under Gaja tehsil in Tehri district on Monday. The leopard had earlier attacked two people, including a woman, from Berni village, said forest department officials.
The forest department engaged two hunters, Joy Hukil and Balbir Panwar, who spotted the leopard on Monday night and shot it down on Tuesday.
“After the first casualty at Berni village on January 28, we had taken the permission from the chief wildlife warden and had set up traps and the shooters to remove the problem leopard in the area,” said Rajiv Dhiman, divisional forest officer (DFO), Tehri.
“The second attack on Monday was three kilometers away from the first and the modus operandi of the leopard was the same. The leopard picked both persons in early morning from their houses and dragged them down 300 metres into ditches where the bodies were found in half-eaten condition.”
Tehri district magistrate Eva Shrivastava visited Pasar village on Monday after the incident. On the demand of the agitated villagers, she directed the forest department to eliminate the leopard.
The forest department has taken the body of the leopard in its possession and sent it for post-mortem examination. “Initially, it looks like the leopard had its claws worn out and as it was unable to kill the natural prey, it was targeting humans. But the clear picture will emerge only after getting the post-mortem report,” said Rajiv Dhiman. Experts say the problem needs to addressed as the leopard population is increasing forests near villages.
Over 400 people have been killed in leopard attacks in Uttarakhand since the state was formed in 2000.
Human deaths in leopard attacks account for nearly half of the total deaths inflicted by wild animals in the state, reveals the data of the state forest department.
Wildlife experts point out two main factors due to which it has been difficult to check manleopard conflict in the state -hilly terrain provides ample space to leopards to hide and scattered human settlements in hills overlap with leopard territories.
Virat Singh, a member of IUCN’s Human-Wildlife Conflict Task Force, Mumbai and working on the ‘Living with leopard’ programme, said, “The translocation of the leopards is one of the major reasons for a rise in leopard attacks. Leopards unfamiliar with a terrain become aggressive due to rise in stress level. It is proven through a project done in Mumbai’s Sanjay Gandhi National Park Mumbai that once translocation is stopped, the leopard attack cases reduce considerably.”
“From 2001 to 2011, the cases of man-animal conflict were high in Mumbai and after that, it was decided to address the problems scientifically using camera traps, population estimations and importantly to engage the local population in leopard-human conflict area which has led to reducing the conflict.”
Sensitisation of village communities and close coordination of all the departments, including the local municipalities and gram panchayats, were important to reduce the conflict, Singh said.
“We have been able to mitigate the man-animal conflict in Mumbai, which had high cases of leopard attacks, by engaging various departments and the communities around the forest areas.”
Vidya Athreya, the director of Wildlife Conservation Society India, said, “The management has to be empathetic to people and proactive training towards leopard emergency and quick response from the management is required along with close coordination of all the stakeholders to reduce the man-animal conflict.”
SS Sondhi, founder of Titleee Trust that works on the ‘Living with Leopard’ programme with the state forest department, said. “Around 60 to 65 attacks on humans, which include injuries and deaths, have been estimated in Uttarakhand annually.”
The study under the “Living with Leopard’ program shows that proactive response from the forest department along with the community-level sensitisation can reduce the leopardhuman conflict considerably, he added.
“The ‘Living with Leopard’ programme was conducted in Maniknath in Tehri district. Villagers were sensitised and the other departments were asked to create toilets in the village households and ensure adequate lighting. This way we succeeded in reducing leopard attack cases,” said DFO Dhiman.
“A similar project is under way in Tehri district which will prove beneficial in reducing man-animal conflict.”
OVER 400 PEOPLE HAVE BEEN KILLED LEOPARD ATTACKS IN UTTARAKHAND SINCE STATE WAS FORMED IN 2000