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| Man-animal conflicts leave 24 dead, 200 hurt in J-K | | In brutal response by people, about a dozen beasts also killed | | EARLY TIMES REPORT
JAMMU, Dec 20: With leopards and beers straying out of their habitat and attacking people, mostly in outlying areas close to forests, the man-animal conflicts in the state have shown an upward trend in the past six months, resulting in the death of nearly 24 people, including women and children, and injuries to about 200 others.
In brutal response by the people, about a dozen beasts also got killed. The emerging man-animal conflict has become a major cause of concern for the state machinery.
"The man-animal conflict is increasing because there is a war of space and food between the two," said a senior forest officer, who did not wish to be named.On Saturday last, a fully-grown bear was stoned to death by petrified villagers when the animal ventured into their territory close to forest.
Few days back, a beer, when entered a Poonch village, people chased it with stones and lathies. While trying to negotiate a treacherous track, it had fallen into a stream. Injured critically, it died a day later.
At Peer Kaleva in Rajouri, a leopard wandered into a house and then the kitchen where a minor girl and her five-year-old brother were having dinner while sitting on the kitchen floor. Their mother was preparing food for them. The wild cat mauled the girl child, but took away her brother to the nearby forests. Screams of the family members alerted the villagers, who chased the leopard. The boy's half-eaten body was later recovered from the forests.
One man was killed and another injured by a beer in Thanamandi, Rajouri, while a girl was killed by a beer in Chhajroo, Mahore, early this month.
In a Srinagar area, a bear, which had last month mauled and then killed two top militants in their hideout in the forests, was "rewarded" with death penalty by some people when it strayed into their village.
The officer said the man-animal conflict had come in focus after several such incidents in the far-flung areas of the state.The shrinking space and shortage of food often forced wild animals towards populated areas, resulting in a conflict, he added.Quoting studies carried out by the departments of forest and wildlife, he said the changing land use pattern in the peripheries of protected areas due to demographic changes was also affecting the wildlife habitats.He blamed people for disturbing the natural habitat of animals by encroaching upon the forest land. This was the main reason due to which the wild animals were wandering into human habitations in search for food, he said and added leopards always looked for easy targets like dogs, children and cattle as they did not offer resistance.
He said leopards turn into man-eaters only after they devour humans and taste their blood.
He said if the human intervention in the wildlife habitat continued, it could pose serious problems in the time to come.Five deaths were reported, with injuries to at least 100 others, in attacks by beers and leopards from South Kashmir areas only. Two
man-eater leopards and five black beers were killed by the people in the area in the past six months.
Three children were eaten by a leopard in Kashmir in October this year. Similar incidents have taken place in other mountain-locked areas of the state during the past some time.
Under the prevailing circumstances, there is an urgent need to evolve quick and effective responses to such situations and take requisite steps to stop man-animal conflicts.
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