Shopian: Nine-month-old Aiman Jan was mauled to death by a leopard in October 2018 at her home, when she was sleeping in the kitchen of her home at Daramdora village of Shopian. Last month, 4-year-old Adha Shakil was playing in the lawn of her house in Ompora area of Budgam when a leopard carried her away. Her body was found the next morning in a nearby forest department nursery.
The growing danger of wild animals will continue to haunt people in Kashmir for as long as there is unchecked growth of the population of stray dogs, which feed on kitchen wastes, particularly meat, say wildlife experts.
Another reason, the experts say, is the huge increase in the number of orchards in Kashmir, which provide cover as well as a link between forest and human habitation to wild animals.
Intisar Suhail, one of the most senior wildlife experts in Kashmir, told Kashmir Reader that wild animals cannot be kept out of urban or semi-urban areas till there is presence of a huge number of stray dogs. He said that dogs are the biggest reason for the presence of leopards near human habitations.
“Dogs are the first and foremost prey for leopards,” he said.
Suhail said that what has happened during the last 20 years is that people have started consuming more meat. This generates more kitchen waste of meat and not only the dog population feeds on it but it also invites wild animals living in the surroundings.
When asked if man-animal conflict in Kashmir has risen in recent years, he said that the trend has been so since two decades now, but more cases are being reported these days.
“The wild leopard has almost become an urban leopard. Earlier there used to be a gap between forests and human habitations, which we call habitat fragmentation. Before 20 years, there was barren land and animals did not cross it. That barren land is now filled with fruit orchards, and these give wild animals a protected cover, similar to what they were getting in forests,” Suhail said.
According to official data accessed by Kashmir Reader, 119 humans have been killed while 1,736 persons have been injured in wild animal attacks in the last 10 years. The data also reveals that 61 leopards have been killed either illegally or under permission during this decade.
Another wildlife expert, who wished not to be named, said that wildlife habitations are not being maintained as much for animals as for forests. The priority, he said, is being given to trees but not to bushes and other cover for the animals.
“When we grow simple forests and at the same time there is dense cover of orchards, where would wildlife prefer to go? Obviously the orchards, because there they have abundance of food and the finest cover. To tackle the situation we have to maintain wildlife habitations and avoid fruit growing around these habitations,” the expert said.
He added that in Ompora, the government took a piece of land for nursery purposes and as years passed, this nursery turned into a forest, full of bushes. “Once the leopard enters it, it will not come out of it, since its prey, the dog, is there and it occasionally attacks humans,” the wildlife expert said.
“There are similar Ompora-like cases in other parts where karevas were turned into forests and forests into habitations or army camps,” he said.

Raashid Hassan