Human-Animal Conflict: Panic Among People As Kashmir Sees Wild Cat Attacks

With fresh incidents of leopard attacks, the inhabitants of the valley are living under constant fear and threat with many having curtailed their movement out of their homes in the morning and evening hours.

Uri, a border area and a remote town in north Kashmir¡¯s Baramulla district, some 105 kilometres away from main city Srinagar has always been in the news for cross-border shelling but this time it has become a hotspot of human-animal conflict. The Line of Control (LoC) is just five kilometres away from the main town Uri.

Unsplash

Five minors killed in leopard attacks

In June, three minors were killed in a leopard attack in different areas of Uri while in September two more minors fell prey.

On September 16, a girl child Munzia Beigh of Bijhama, Uri was killed by the leopard. Her body was recovered from a nearby forest area late in the night on the same day.

On September 22, another child Ali Hussain of Dhani Syedan, Uri was killed by the leopard and his body was retrieved after several hours of search from the forest area.

In the third incident that took place in June only, a 12-year-old girl Rutba Manzoor was mauled to death by a ¡®man-eater¡¯ leopard in Batangi, Boniyar area of Uri.

Later, it was followed by 15-year-old Munir Ahmed of Choolan Kalsan and 13-year-old Shahid Ahmad of Trikanjan, Boniyar who were similarly put to death.

People seek action against attacks

Abbas Hussain, father of Ali, told Indiatimes that the government has been acting as a mute spectator. ¡°On the each passing day, we are losing our loved ones and there is no concrete action from the government side yet. The man-eater leopards are moving freely and the government has completely failed to kill or capture them,¡± he said.

Manzoor Ahmad Bhat, father of Rutba said that they haven¡¯t received any compensation from the government yet. ¡°Though we have submitted all the documents to the local district administration as sought but we haven¡¯t been given anything. We are waiting for their response, if they don't provide us any compensation will drag them to the court,¡± he said.

Tariq Hashim, a local of Kamalkote village of Uri blamed the wildlife department for failing to hold the awareness programs among the people especially those living in Behaks- a makeshift shelter that shepherds build closer to hilly grasslands where their sheep graze in summers.

¡°When people living near the forest areas go to attend nature's call, they come out of their kothas and become the victims of the wild animals. I believe that the wildlife department should conduct awareness camps on how to stay safe in such areas,¡± he said.

Unsplash

Stopped venturing out

Hashim also pointed out that why can't the government build toilet facilities for these people under its Swachh Bharat Mission.

¡°These people usually go to nearby forests or bushes to relieve themselves. But unfortunately they fall prey to leopards,¡± he said.

Shafqat Aziz Banday, a resident of Salamabad area of Uri said that they have stopped venturing out in the morning and evening hours.

¡°We have spotted leopards in our area a number of times and we can¡¯t put our lives at risk. Many people have also stopped going to the mosque in the morning and evening hours. The fresh cases have triggered more panic among the residents,¡± he said.

¡°It looks like the government is having a soft corner towards private hunters who go into the forests to hunt down the wild species. But it creates panic among other animals too, forcing them to head towards the residential areas or villages,¡± said Irfan Ahmad, a local of Trikanjan, Boniyar.

¡°We request the government to put a ban on hunting through licensed guns for a time being which may help in decreasing the human-animal conflict,¡± he added.

Authorities ask locals to take precautions

Regional Wildlife Warden Kashmir, Rashid Naqash said that people living close to the forest area need to take precautions while venturing out during mornings and evenings.

¡°Children and women need to be extra cautious and don¡¯t need to come out without being accompanied by the elders,¡± Naqash said.

¡°Rest, we are monitoring the situation closely,¡± he said.

Meanwhile, the Department of Wildlife Protection issued an advisory recently asking locals not to move alone in the forest areas. Women and children have been advised to move in groups.

It reads that people of the forest area should avoid going to forests, especially during mornings and evenings as it is peak activity time for the leopards.

Few days back, Chief Wildlife Warden J&K also ordered shoot-at-sight orders to eliminate the ¡®man-eater¡¯ leopard that killed two minors in Uri recently. In July, a ¡®man-eater¡¯ leopard was also shot dead in the Uri area which mauled three teenagers.

Unsplash

234 killed from 2006 to 2022

Human-animal conflicts in Kashmir have resulted in hundreds of fatalities in the past few years. Data revealed that from 2006 to 2022, 234 people lost their lives and 2,918 received injuries in animal attacks.

The number of deaths has particularly gone up between 2011 and 2020. In 2018, eight persons were mauled to death, while it was 11 the following year. The next two years saw five and nine deaths, respectively.

Forests cover over 20 per cent of Jammu and Kashmir¡¯s total land area. There are 35 conservation reserves, 14 wildlife sanctuaries and five national parks within the state¡¯s 15,912 sq km network of protected areas.