A labourer was attacked by a leopard in the Jhajra range of Dehradun forest division on Thursday. Though the man did not sustain serious injury, the department has placed a cage in the forest range to tarp the cat and has stepped up patrolling.
According to Forest Department officials, patrolling has been stepped up in Jhajra, after the man was attacked by leopard.
According to the Dehradun sub divisional officer Gulvir Singh, the department has already placed two cages and camera traps in the Forest Research Institute campus.
The leopard, which is believed to visit this area frequently has not been caught in the camera trap as of yet. The locations of the cages placed here are also changed to increase the chances of capturing the big cat.
In addition, the department has also placed two cages in Asharodi and one at Purohitwala area. “Easy availability of food (wild boar, dogs and other domesticated animals), access to shelter and water is attracting leopards to the suburban areas. The department is taking measures to prevent human-leopard conflict by placing cages where required and intensifying patrolling in such areas,” he said.
Meanwhile, observers point out that with the increasing human population and resulting pressures on the ecology, the healthy population of leopards in the State is likely to come into increasing conflict with humans due to factors like decreasing prey base for the big cats in the forests and other anthropogenic factors.