Another leopard caught, wild animal-human conflicts on the rise

Hyderabad: Forest officials trapped a leopard in Maddur mandal of Narayanpet district sometime on Monday night and released it in the Amrabad tiger reserve on Tuesday evening. The area is far away from a forest.

The capture comes less than a week after another leopard was captured from the Shamshabad airport premises. That leopard was also released in the tiger reserve.

This is part of an increasing trend of leopard sightings and capture in the state, pointing to the potential for more wild animal human conflicts.

“In the days to come we could see more such conflicts,” said Principal Chief Conservator of Forests R.M. Dobriyal, adding that such conflicts could come out of nowhere as was in the case of the elephant that strayed from Chhattisgarh into the Komaram Bheem Asifabad district recently.

The leopard released on Tuesday evening added to the list of these cats added to the tiger reserve in the last four years. According to officials, including the latest release, the tiger reserve now has some eight leopards that were captured elsewhere and released there.

“Since we are quick to respond in terms of paying compensation for cattle kills, and working with people in villages where leopards feed on cattle, sheep or goats, we are able to control the situation. Our appeal is if there is a wild animal in an area with people, then they should inform the authorities and we will take steps to alleviate the problem,” Dobriyal said.

Though as per the last census in the state in 2022 there were 297 of leopards, it is expected that their actual numbers could be much more as they are adept in surviving in non-forest areas.

According to the Amrabad tiger reserve field director N. Kshitija, the leopard caught in Maddur mandal was a sub-adult and was reported to have killed some calves in the area. Though there is no forest there, mostly hillocks with very thin scrub, it is ideal for leopards which can survive feeding on stray dogs and sometimes cattle.

“There is no forest as such in a 70-80 km radius from where it was moving and was caught. With it beginning to prey on cattle, we trapped it and released it in the tiger reserve close to a water body as this is summer,” she said.

“Sometimes people do not complain even when some domestic animals are killed but when calves are fed on by leopards, it becomes an emotional issue as they are young animals and their owners have an emotional bond with them. As soon as the complaint was received, action was taken and the leopard caught safely,” Dobriyal said.