Leopard Killed By Tribal Man In Kerala As Human-Animal Conflict Continues To Grow In The State
A leopard, blamed for killing several domestic animals in a village near Munnar in Kerala has been killed.
The leopard was killed by a tribal man on Saturday morning after it pounced on him.
Gopalan, a resident of Chinganamkudi tribal colony in Mankulam of Idukki District was on his way to his brother's house on Saturday morning when the big cat attacked him.
Killed in self defence
Gopalan who had a knife in his hand used it to fight off the big cat, killing it in the process.
An injured Gopalan was rushed to a hospital, by locals who reached there after hearing his cry for help.
The condition of Gopalan who suffered injuries on his chest and fractures on his hand and leg is said to be stable.
Though leopard is listed in Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, the Kerala Forest Department has said that no charges will be filed against Gopalan as he acted in self defence.
"I had no other option and I did it to save my life," Gopalan said.
Leopard has been in the village of a while?
Hours before attacking Gopalan, the leopard was trapped in a net but it had slipped away before it could be caught.
For the past few weeks, villagers in Mankulam, which is also a tourist spot, have been complaining that there was a leopard in the village and it killing their domestic animals.
The Forest Department which initially refused to believe the claims of the villagers later installed camera traps there and in August the presence of the leopard was officially confirmed.
Increase in human-animal conflicts in Kerala
Saturday's incident is the latest case of human-animal conflict which is on the rise in Kerala.
Attacks on humans by elephants, wild boars, tigers and leopards have seen an increase in the past few years.?
According to official data from the Kerala Forest Department between 2011 and March 2022, there were 34,875 recorded instances of wildlife attacks on humans, resulting in 1,233 deaths.
Since June 2022, at least six people in Kerala have been killed by wild elephants.
Wild elephants and wild boars have also been blamed for large-scale crop destruction in many parts of Kerala.
In areas like Wayanad, which has a large forest cover, villagers have been complaining that the number of tiger sightings in their land is on the rise.??
A combination of factors including, depletion of forests, expansion of agriculture and change in weather patterns are making these conflicts more frequent in the state.
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