Both the forest department officials and wildlife activists are of the view that human activity needs to be controlled in areas frequented by wildlife as in case of the location where a forester was killed by a leopard recently. Though the local residents have been asked to regulate their movement, the ongoing Char Dham yatra season brings with it many people who enter and spend time in such areas despite official warnings, putting themselves at risk of chance encounters with wildlife.
On May 19, a forester was found to have been killed with his body partially consumed by a leopard in the woods on the banks of the Suswa river in Rajaji tiger reserve area. Since the incident which occurred near a temple, the Rajaji administration has been monitoring the area and working towards raising awareness among the locals on desisting movements in areas frequented by the wildlife.Rajaji director Sanatan told The Pioneer that since the latest incident, the local MlA and Vidhan Sabha speaker Premchand Agrawal had also attended a meeting with officials. The MlA had also acknowledged the undesirability of people moving about in the areas frequented by wildlife. He had also stated that he would talk to the local residents about regulating their movement in such areas. However, the problem is that even though the local residents may regulate their movements, the ongoing Char Dham Yatra season brings various travellers and pilgrims- many of whom continue to saunter around in such areas or take rest in such areas. It is not uncommon for some to take a nap just under the signage put up in the area warning the people to keep away and desist from halting there.
Wildlife activists too point out that intrusive movement of people in the area frequented by wild animals including elephants, tigers and leopards not only disturbs the wildlife and habitat but also proves dangerous and even fatal at times for people in case of human-wildlife conflict. While the forest department is monitoring the area to prevent further incident, activists stress that curtailing human movement in the area frequented by wildlife is necessary in the interests of both the wild animals and the public.