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| When big cats take on humans... |
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Dehra Dun, 22 juni 2009 Pantera commentaarWaarom zien ze in Azie het probleem wel in zijn juiste context en zijn in Zuid Afrika de panters nog steeds vogelvrij voor plezier en trofee jacht? When big cats take on humans... The Uttarakhand forest department has recently declared another leopard as a man-eater, stressing that the situation is getting grimmer, with the number of such cats now reaching 60. Human intrusion, coupled with scant availability of prey is perhaps pushing up the number of man-eating leopards in the state. Uttarakhand has been blessed by an expansive forest cover of nearly 65 per cent that is house to a great variety of animal species. Besides having a variety of endangered species of wild animals such as snow leopards, musk deer, hog deer and tigers, it is said to have a large population of leopards as well. But the increasing population of leopards in the state has put the lives of the inhabitants of the state at risk. In many parts of the state, where villages are along the fringes of forest, people are living under constant fear of unprecedented attacks from leopards. Though the threat also comes from elephants, bears and tigers, leopards are now the sole concern.  Ever since the state of Uttarakhand came into being, as many as 189 people have been killed in leopard attacks and 346 others injured. Realising the gravity of the situation the state forest department declares a leopard a man-eater if it repeatedly attacks humans in a particular area. Thereafter, the licensed hunters of the government are approached to either hunt the animal or catch it alive, though very few have been caught alive till date. Untill the recent instance, 59 leopards have been declared man eaters out of which 37 have fallen victim to the team of hunters constituted by the forest department. The status of others is not yet known. Recently, the forest department declared a leopard of Narendra Nagar area as a man-eater in view of its attacks on humans, taking the figure alarmingly to 60. However, the senior forest officials say that human greed is responsible for this increasing number of man-eaters. "Human intrusion into forest land is increasing which forces these animals to try and protect themselves. Besides, less availability of prey is making them move towards human habitation and attack humans," said forest conservator Mr DS Khati. If the situation is not brought under control soon, many of these big cats will continue encroaching upon human habitations and turn man-eaters. Sadly, this will lead them only to the hunters bullet. Bron: www.thestatesman.net Terug naar nieuws-overzicht |