Study links leopard attacks to forest dept driving them back into forests

However,the study says that whenever the forest department trapped leopards from human surroundings and sent them back to the forest,cases of attacks and killings of humans have increased.

“As per our estimates,there are around 600 leopards in sugarcane farms alone in Maharashtra. They live there as they find ample food in form of sheep and goats. These farms serve a good hiding place for them too. However,if these leopards are displaced and sent back to the forest,a region foreign to them,they panic and try to return to the place where they belong. Often they lose their way and stray into other places. Leopard attacks are often reported around 60-70 km distance of a release site,” said Vidya Athreya,who has been heading the project. She said the study would be completed in two years.

Athreya said during their investigation in Junnar,where nearly 50 cases of leopard attacks were reported between 2001 and 2002,they found that around 106 leopards had been trapped by the forest department. In Mumbai also,several cases of leopard sightings and attacks were reported at residential areas near the Sanjay Gandhi National Park in Borivali till 2004.

Explaining the predicament of a displaced leopard,Athreya said,“These animals are not too different from house cats. If you throw your pet cat out,it will find its way back home.”

According to Athreya,the only way to end this conflicts is to stop trappings and relocating the leopards. Instead,let them co-exist,she said. “But the government should try to focus on settling the compensation of the villagers who have lost their cattles,” she said.

Athreya will be in Mumbai on Thursday to talk about her research at the BNHS office.