Can we learn to live with leopards?
The leopard,
when it comes to conservation
policy, has always lost out to its more glamorous cousin, the tiger
Bahar Dutt
As the environment editor in a news channel, almost every week I had the misfortune of receiving, with alarming regularity, visuals from across the country of an animal being chased or beaten to death by an angry mob. While the footage would come in from different parts of the country, the species was the same every timethe hapless leopard.
I said it then and I say it now, there is a crisis facing the Indian leopard. This crisis is not of rampant poaching, but of a decline in the quality of its habitat and prey base. The leopard, when it comes to conservation policy, has always lost out to its more glamorous cousin, the tiger.
What happened in Bengaluru is not an aberration; it will happen again. And when it happens in a city known for its passion for wildlife, it is cause for worry.
For those who may have missed the story, heres what happened: Early one morning, the security personnel at a school in Whitefield spotted a leopard in the premises. The camera footage showed the big cat skulking through the corridors of the school and even entering the kitchen. Forest department staff armed with tranquilizer guns were called in and two teams were formed to scour the school.
The tense drama took a violent turn when the trapped feline, perhaps scared by the presence of the men, went on an attacking spree. Unfortunately, renowned wildlife conservationist Sanjay Gubbi, who was trying to help the rescue teams, got seriously injured. Gubbi had to be taken to hospital and is thankfully now out of danger. As Gubbi has already shared on social media postings, it was really his presence of mind that prevented more grave injuries, since he decided not to fight the leopard as it mauled his arm.
Even as Bengaluru takes stock of the situation, there are important lessons to be learnt. First, was the protocol laid down by the environment ministry in April 2011 followed? This protocol lists the steps to be taken if a leopard strays into human habitation. Vidya Athreya, one of the foremost voices in the country on human-leopard conflict, helped to put together this protocol after a decade of work showing how leopards often live close to human habitation. The protocol clearly states that wild carnivores may attack in self-defence and, therefore, it is advisable to avoid provoking them. The area should be cordoned off with barricades and all attempts should be made to keep the crowd and local people from approaching the animal.
Compared to similar situations earlier, the rescue team did a commendable job, but as usual it was the crowd that delayed operations, by intimidating the animal. It is also not clear why a television crew was allowed into the premises while the operation was on.
Gubbi said in an interview to a Bengaluru daily that he asked for Section 144 to be imposed by the police to control the crowd, which wasnt done.
Second, and this is a larger, more complex question: how do we plan our cities such that they become more tolerant of wild animals? Even as I write this piece, the panic continues in Bengaluru as three more leopards have been spotted. The forest department has already released visuals to show how plantations around Whitefield could be supporting a healthy leopard population. Their disclosure also matches the results of Athreyas research, which has shown that leopards, in fact, are the discreet denizens of human settlements, so even if there isnt a forest around, provided there is a source of food in the form of dogs, the leopards may still survive. Her study also tried to dispense with the notion that leopards stray into human habitation, showing, in fact, that many are resident leopards.
According to the forest department, many of the information technology hubs have come up in areas close to forests. As urban India pushes into wild spaces, such incidents will increase. Delhi has expanded into the Aravalis, once a prime habitat for leopards; Mumbai wants to push into Sanjay Gandhi National Park, where leopards exist in large numbers; and Pune into the Western Ghats. The same is the story with Guwahati, another city where conflict with leopards are frequently reported.
Leopards have learnt to coexist with humans. The question is: can we learn to live with them?
The writer is a conservation biologist
