Kashmir’s human-animal conflict has become extremely terrible as there has been rapid increase in attacks by animals on people. The recent attack on a girl in north Kashmir’s Uri border town by a leopard, a 7-year-old boy was picked up and killed by the same animal is extremely gruesome. The wildlife attacks on human are ringing alarm bells in the region.
Wild animals are increasing preying on young children which has led to rise in human-wildlife conflict. As per experts, there has been an increase in the wildlife population including leopards, bears, jackals and other species during past 35 years. “Hangul is a species related to red deer found only in Kashmir”, Rashid Naqash, regional wildlife warden (Kashmir), told IANS.
Due to terror attacks, poachers do not enter forests for fear of security forces which have also led to rise in population of wildlife species. The increasing human population forced humans to go deeper in natural habitat of wildlife. As the forest habitat shrinks, there has been rise in conflict between humans and wild animals, and this sometimes turns deadly.
“New human settlements have come up right into the hitherto natural habitats of the wildlife. Houses have been built deep into the forests and this is coupled with grazing and felling of trees that has literally pushed wild animals to the brink, he said.
The wildlife warden said his staff is overstretched catching wild animals like bears and leopards who often prowl inhabited places in both urban and rural areas.
Further Warden informed that they usually catch the prowling wild animals and then release them into their natural habitats.
Wildlife warden said that if some wild animal has a history of attacking humans more than once they keep them in the rescue centres till they are certified not to be maneaters and fit to be released in the natural habitat.