With leopard-human conflict rising in some of the villages bordering the Rajaji national park, the field director of the national park has stressed on the need for policy decisions to ensure a proper solution to this problem.
A leopard was killed in the Aurangabad village bordering Rajaji by villagers earlier this month and since then there have been at least two incidents of leopards entering the village. In the first week of June a leopard which had reportedly injured five persons in the village was beaten to death by the villagers. Since then leopards have been sighted twice in the same village that borders Rajaji. According to the Rajaji field director SP Subudhi, the spotted cats might be entering the village in search of water or easy prey especially if the leopard is unable to hunt its natural prey.
"However, with about 100 leopards estimated to be present in the western part of Rajaji alone, the big cats are liable to move around to establish their territories. Policy decisions are needed to mitigate conflict between humans and leopards in such areas. Human habitations are getting closer to the Rajaji boundary and this increases the chances of leopards straying into human habitats especially as the spotted cat prefers to be near to human settlements than in thick jungle. I believe that constructions should not be allowed within 100 to 200 metres of the national park boundary. At present there are villages along the national park's boundary whereas there should be agriculture-horticulture patches between the forest and human settlements. Such patches could mitigate conflict as the big cats might then prefer moving in such patches during the night instead of entering the settments," he said. Regarding the measures needed to prevent leopards from straying into settlements Subudhi said that providing street lighting in the settlements might deter the felines from entering human settlements.
"Generally, the leopards will avoid well lit places but the issue being faced here is the electricity bill which would be incurred on the street lights. There is lack of certainty about who will pay the bill for the power consumed on street lighting in the settlements," added Subudhi.Meanwhile, wildlife activists point out that the rising constructions including human settlements, commercial buildings and resorts along the boundary of the national park are proving detrimental to the wildlife, environment and even humans who face the increased risk of confrontations with wild animals.