Human-leopard conflict has taken centre-stage in four talukas (sub-district) of poll-bound Maharashtra, with politicians making all-out promises to deal with the issue.
The talukas in Pune district — Junnar, Ambegaon, Shirur and Khed — have dense leopard concentrations, resulting in human-leopard conflict. The Junnar taluka has a density of about seven leopards per 100 square kilometres.
Over 230 villages across the talukas were declared disaster-prone areas due to repeated leopard attacks on humans earlier this year in September.
Eight human deaths have been reported since March this year. These include five children and three adults from the Junnar and Shirur talukas.
Politicians from different factions have, in their poll campaigns, assured voters of concrete action in order to mitigate the issue. In a recent rally, Member of Parliament Amol Kolhe talked of the proposal drafted and submitted to the Centre for sterilising 36 female and 11 male leopards in the region.
Kolhe also stated that he raised the issue on the floor of Parliament in February this year to ensure that people in his constituency lived in an environment free of fear.
He said there is widespread anger among people longing for a permanent solution as the proposal to sterilise leopards has not received a green signal from the Centre.
Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, while addressing the media in October, said cages had been used to trap leopards and relocate them to other states. He said funds had been directed and the district collector had been informed to ensure that humans were protected from leopard attacks.
Meanwhile, Congressman Satyashil Sherkar has assured all necessary support and assistance to the families of leopard attack victims.
Kaustubh Batwal, a leopard attack survivor from Junnar, said people in the region live in fear and are scared to enter agricultural fields during the day.
“Politicians need to make more active efforts in addressing the issue than just offering assurances. The locals are inclined towards the recent proposal of a leopard safari by the state government which will limit the human-leopard conflict to some extent,” he added.
Batwal said the locals’ demand is that all leopards be eventually restricted to the protected area and safari with a fence, so they cannot enter human habitations.
Vivek Khandekar, chief wildlife warden of Maharashtra, said the proposal underwent a series of rounds for clarification and fine-tuning from the Union environment ministry and Wildlife Institute of India (WII) and is expected to be sent this month.
He added that the sterilisation may be conducted for a limited period of time either on leopards or a certain number of other species or a combination of both. “The aim is to have a sustained population growth of Schedule I species which are beyond carrying capacity at present,” he said.
Once the approval is received, a protocol will be prepared on how to execute the programme. Though a first for India, the practice of sterilising wild animals is not new and is known to have been successfully conducted in other parts of the world, Khandekar told Down To Earth.
He added that the implementation of the programme would be done with experts from WII and taking into confidence stakeholders such as the local community and experts working on the cause of conservation.