Needed: Rapid rescue teams for leopards

Times of India ,NEW DELHI:
Wildlife experts want rapid response teams set up in sensitive areas across the country to deal with human-leopard conflicts. After three leopards were killed last week, experts said the environment ministry must frame an action plan to swiftly rescue the big cats when they stray into towns and villages. The killings took place within five days in separate regions. In each case, the cat had strayed into an inhabited areas and could not find a way out.

On the afternoon of January 9, a policeman shot dead a rampaging leopard to stop it from mauling a man who had stepped out of a bar in Maharashtra's Karad city. Three days later, a male leopard strayed into Kheri Gujran village near the Aravalis in Haryana's Faridabad district and attacked a woman. An angry mob broke tranquilizer guns brought by rescue teams and beat the animal to death. There was a rerun of the scene a day later on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar, Orissa, when villagers killed a leopard.

Big cat specialists say these incidents indicate India's leopards are coming under increasing stress. "It is high time the Centre formulated guidelines to deal with these situations," said Qamar Qureshi of Dehradun-based Wildlife Institute of India. "We need trained people to reach stranded leopards before the mob does."

Qureshi said it is possible to set up rapid response teams in all problem areas without spending a lot of money. "All you need to do is train three to five local forest officials for the job, have a veterinary care unit, a vehicle and some basic equipment. This would save lives and protect the animals," the big cat expert said.

He said despite leopard encounters being by far the most commonly occurring human-carnivore conflict in India, it has not got the attention it deserves. "Sadly, the leopard is not an iconic animal like the tiger. Its numbers are relatively high and so its killings do not make big news."

Qureshi has a point. Leopard poaching has reached alarming levels. The Wildlife Protection Society of India recorded 3,552 killings since 1994. Other reports say one leopard is killed every day in the country.

"Poaching and forced translocation of leopards are probably among the main reasons for human-leopard conflicts," said Vidya Athreya, a wildlife biologist working specifically on the problem.

Citing her own research on leopard conflicts in Maharashtra, Athreya said removals through poaching and translocation lead to other leopards occupying the 'vacated' territories. "These leopards are new to the area and are more liable to come into contact with human beings or prey on livestock." Vidya said there was a sharp fall in leopard attacks in Borivili and Jhunnar – two conflict hotspots in Maharashtra – since translocation of trapped animals to other places was stopped. "Now, the trapped leopards are released in the same area and seldom cause trouble," she said.

Shrinking habitats is the most cited cause of conflict. "Leopards are great survivors," said co-founder of Wildlife SOS Kartick Satyanarayan, whose team members were almost beaten up trying to rescue the leopard at Kheri Gujran.

"They have traditionally lived at the edge of human habitations. Now, more and more unused land where leopards usually live unseen by humans is being developed."

Athreya said the government needs to study all aspects of this complex problem if the majestic feline is to co-exist peacefully with humans – as is still the case in many parts of the country.