At least a dozen leopard deaths in Uttarakhand between May 2013 and October 2014 could be attributed to the failure of the Forest Department staff to take necessary action on time. Inspite of the National Tiger Conservation Authority stressing on the need for following standard operating procedure and other measures including formation of a rapid response team for tackling human-wildlife conflict situations, the State has failed to take effective measures to address the situation.
In a letter to the State chief secretary and principal secretary, Forests, PFA Uttarakhand member secretary Gauri Maulekhi has cited several such cases. Citing cases, she states that in May 2013 a leopardess suspected of being a man-eater was shot while stuck in a pipe without authorisation from the chief wildlife warden in Almora. In July 2013 in Terai central forest division an injured leopardess died from cardiac failure while being caged without being tranquilised. In March 2014, a leopardess trapped in a clutch wire snare died many hours later in the absence of proper rescue in Tanakpur; in August a leopard was shot by a department licensed shooter in Tehri without any evidence of the big cat being a man-eater and similarly in October a leopard baited with a buffalo calf was shot dead in Pithoragarh on the grounds of being a man-eater though its post mortem revealed that its claws and teeth were intact, which is generally not the case with man-eaters. “Department staff is not adept at using tranquilising guns and they do not get these guns on time. Instead of getting the problem leopard tranquilised the department is abetting their extermination while post mortems are being conducted by veterinarians experienced in treating dogs and cattle. The field staff has not been trained in the SOP approved by the NTCA. Apathy towards encroachment on forest land due to political interference and corruption is further escalating the human-wildlife conflict,” she adds.
It should be noted here that the NTCA has been addressing the States to orient and build up the capacity of field staff, while deploying a few rapid response teams- fully equipped with veterinary facility, to rescue wild animals in distress or those causing distress.
In past cases of leopard deaths in Uttarakhand, the authority has noted that the field staff neither had the capacity nor were equipped to handle the situation professionally, which could have saved the leopards from death. Noting the apparent total lack of coordination at the local level, the authority had also stressed on the need for equipping the department to professionally handle such issues.
Formation of a rapid response team, public outreach programmes, provision of regular and adequate budgetary support towards mitigation of human-wildlife conflict and thorough grounding in the SOP to deal with emergencies arising due to straying of big cats in human dominated landscapes have also been recommended by the NTCA but few of these measures have been executed effectively by the department.