India is said to be fighting to protect its endangered animals for several decades, but despite strict laws protecting the animals, the country has witnessed multiple cases of poaching and animal deaths in recent past.?
In the case of leopards, India recorded 331, 339, 440, 431 and 460 deaths between 2014 and 2018. In the year 2018, there was a record 460 leopard deaths in India, which places it at the highest recorded leopard deaths during the same period throughout the world. In fact, the northern state of Uttarakhand reportedly tops this chart with 93 deaths, followed by Maharashtra at 90.?
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But the statistics do not seem to serve any lesson as a leopard was killed on Saturday in Uttarakhand¡¯s Pithoragarh district. It happened after a hunter tracked its movements for nearly 10 days.
According to a report in the Hindustan Times, the leopard in question had allegedly killed a woman in the nearby region. The forest officials described the leopard as dangerous to human life, because of which, they said, it was killed.?
¡°The leopard that had killed a woman in Papdeo village in the district on September 3 and injured several others over the past few weeks was killed by hunter Joy Hukil at Chandak village when it appeared near a raised platform at 3 am,¡± Vinay Bhargav, Pithoragarh divisional forest officer, was quoted as saying in the Hindustan Times.?
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The forest official further said that the forest department had involved a hunter for killing the animal. He said the hunter named Hukil succeeded in killing the leopard around 3 am on Saturday.
According to forest officials, locals of the region had been demanding that the leopard be killed as it posed a threat to their lives. It had already killed a woman and villagers in the adjoining areas feared for their lives.?
They had reportedly approached the forest department for a solution and the permission to eliminate the leopard was granted on September 25.?
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It is no secret that the entire world, including India, bats for wildlife protection programmes but we should all ask ourselves if we are doing enough.?
Growing conflicts and accidents are among the major causes for leopard deaths in India. Poaching, human-animal conflicts and road accidents have led to rapid increase in destruction of wildlife habitats.?