Article: R. C. Nilanjan
Translated by: Pratik Mahapatra
Disclaimer
This translation is solely based on a Bengali article, "Mejo Mama Bhalo Nei", published in 2018 in a renowned Bengali travel magazine. The photographed is used with permission and, the credit for it goes to the respective owner.
Photo Credit: R. C. Nilanjan
'Now you are a beauty!' said the Ethiopian. 'You can lie out on the bare ground and look like a heap of pebbles. You can lie out on the naked rocks and look like a piece of pudding-stone. You can lie out on a leafy branch and look like sunshine shifting through the leaves; and you can lie across the centre of a path and look like nothing in particular. Think of that and purr!'
— Rudyard Kipling, How the Leopard got his Spots (1902)
SO, HOW are the leopards doing now at the current juncture in India? Does the big cat at all really occupy the supreme preferences of uninterrupted peace and protection in this long race of survival? A very few creatures can boast the charisma of a leopard. The tigers now just number a few thousands due to the devastating effects of poaching for the trade in skins and body parts. Asiatic lions are crossing their borders outside the reserve. Quite important an issue it is to look at the trials and tribulations of our leopards at this point of struggle for existence, where the other two prime big cats are unfortunately shrinking, gradually.
Here indeed, at the very outset, a few words are needed to be shared, then we shall switch over to the current canvas of trials and tribulations as they are experiencing. For the leopards in India, the year 2017 has not been a great one. Not far from Kolkata, in the western part of our state, there situates the district of Purulia. Once dominated by the sylvan tribes, the district now beholds the mob of civilized population and besides, there lies the age-old forests, coupled with the withered hills, plateaus and ridges. At the midnight, an adult male leopard was reported to be invaded in the cowshed of a resident at the village called Tetura, under the Block Jhalra. The leopard was literally captivated in that cowshed and at dawn, the local mob informed the forest officials for the rescue. The underprepared workers eventually arrived. Inexperienced enough, they opened the door, and began to chase the cat away. Consequently, the hungry, cornered and frustrated cat vehemently attacked the people whoever he could get in his reach and, as many as thirteen villagers had been injured in this nasty commotion. To quench their aggression, the villagers ruthlessly killed the leopard with the pieces of rocks, pebbles and sticks! Even the immense cruelty was not stopped here! The poor big cat was hung by the rope so that he could be displayed to a much wider audience and, some of the peculiar hooligans engaged themselves in taking selfies with the dead leopard. Afterwards, some of the residents cut apart several body parts including ears, nose, paw pad, even the genital organ. Meanwhile, the forest officials played their role as nothing more than silent observers. Such is the shameful scenario to be watched and witnessed!
However, this is not a fragmentary piece of the event. The human-leopard conflict, be it the leopard’s intrusion into the human world, or human’s invasion of the leopard habitat, such conflicts are taking place not only here in Bengal but everywhere in the other states like Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Hariyana and the like. In 2017, a leopard came into a village in Rajasthan to quench his thirst and, accidentally got himself collapsed by his neck in a water pot. Quite fortunately, he was rescued. The cordiality, sensibility and empathy of the locals saved his day. Before this incident, in November 2016, another leopard came and took shelter in a field. He was not fortunate enough to get back escaping from the ravages of human hands. Besides all these – the invasion of leopards in the tea estates and subsequent clashes are almost day-to-day hazards in North Bengal. Although sometimes, they survive on many occasions, the rest of the days in their lives are literally destined in wildlife rescue centres.
Why such invasions are taking place? Keeping the query aside, for the time being, let us straightaway prove into the facets of facts. During the span of twelve years from 2005 to 2016, India recorded 154 leopard deaths, resulting from poaching. Although there is no documented record of actually how many of them were killed in conflicts with humans, there had been approximately 250 unfortunate leopards, who lost their lives in such clashes within the span of two years, from 2014 to 2016. That roughly makes at least 400 leopards are being killed every year and, most of them are being victimized in human-leopard conflicts! (Reference: Leopard Poaching Statistics 1994 – 2016; Wildlife Protection Society of India, January 2017). A highly pitiable portrayal of leopards in India.
Stealthy, opportunistic and cunning, the leopards are the creatures of immense adaptability. Widely afraid of human beings and, unless he is cornered by the tribulations of fate, he never temps to take on humans. An overnight conversion into a man-eater is beyond any causal explanation, however. So why is he moving towards the human time and again? Besides the destruction of habitat, scarcity of prey base and the competition with other formidable predators, there is one remarkable factor- the general instinct of the leopards and its immense adaptability with the habitat. They often come into close contact with humans in search of easier prey like the livestock, the Indian mongrels (largely considered as one of the most favourite prey animals of leopards), or the poultry birds. From time to time, the pregnant females do approach, such areas in search of a secluded and safe nursery area for her unborn cubs. Consequently, the conflicts turn out to be obvious. The deterioration of forests is one of the common issues, but leopards coming into human contacts just for the sake of their survival is turning out to be more frequent than ever before due to several reasons.
All these aspects are just one side of the coin. But who will explore the unseen one? Our negligence and indifference – the inefficiency on part of the governmental approaches turn out to be more prevalent while discussing the untold story. Thanks to the successful conservation strategies adopted to save the tigers of India since the launch of the Project Tiger in 1973, the tiger population in the country has been significantly flourished. The project was a tremendous success and today, there are as many as 50 tiger reserves in the country while the tiger population has undergone a drastic increase from only 1,411 tigers in 2006 to 2,226 in 2014. The funds allocated for the Project were directed at combating tiger poachers and relocating villagers and their livestock to reduce human-tiger conflicts. Almost a prolonged period of 45 years have been passed, and ever since, a number of efforts have been undertaken to improve the spectrum of conservation, but have we been serious enough to take the account of conservation of the neglected rosettes? Well, conservation is much broader an issue, have there been a single forest or two, chiefly devoted to the issue of leopard conservation? One thing that we should definitely keep in our mind is that the Indian subspecies of leopards, i.e. Panthera pardus fusca (Linnaeus, 1758) can be found throughout the Indian subcontinent only. Although in Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and, Pakistan some of the occasional sightings have been reported from time to time. The Yala National Park in Srilanka, our neighbouring nation, has already proved to be the “Leopard Capital of the World” by upholding their subspecies of leopards i.e. Panthera pardus kotiya (Pieris, 1956). Learning a lesson from this success, could a similar initiative motivate leopard conservation in India? Could the Project Leopard be the ultimate answer to save the leopards of our country? "Project Leopard will be very much welcome," says Sachikanta Chakraborty IFS, the Ex-PCCF, Forest Department of Karnataka, "a new project means more funds are available for conservation." Many wildlife activists reiterate their remarks in favour of leopard tourism as well.
Another aspect of deterioration must not be neglected that more than 80% of the leopard population have been decreased quite rapidly. It is now enlisted in Schedule I, according to the Wildlife Act of 1972. Today in India, the preference for the eco-tourism value has not been yet attributed to the leopards while tigers supremely flourish by the virtue of trend and dominance. The reason, however, is easy to understand. The tigers have got a worldwide tourism value for the sake of the larger number of foreign tourists, but the question is, how many foreigners will eventually come to see leopards? Where lies the importance of their existence? They indeed quite largely occupy a supreme stance in the food chain, irrespective of the status as the second-rated big cat in the tiger-dominated domains? So, leave them in the hands of destiny despite knowing that they belong to the vital hierarchy of felines. In our country, the blackbuck (Antilope cervicapra Linnaeus, 1758), hard ground swamp deer (Rucerves duvaucelli branderi Peacock, 1943), Asiatic wild ass (Equus hemionus Pallas, 1775) and, many other faunal biodiversities are preoccupied with the special conservation status sanctuaries, attributed to the particular species. So why is, after all, such broader negligence in forming up a leopard sanctuary? Well, the formation of a leopard sanctuary is far from the reality, at least for the time being, as we have had our leopard census as recently as 2015, the first ever!
In this connection, let us have a glance at the population of Indian leopards. Yadavendra Dev Jhala, the chief scientist, headed up the census, which estimates that there are supposed to be as many as 7,910 leopards in Indian forests excluding that of the north-east. Based on this figure, scientists estimate the country’s total leopard population to be somewhere between 12,000 to 14,000. Judging from this standpoint, it is quite obvious that the leopards are in better prospect in India than that of the tigers in terms of genetic exchange. Despite such an advancement, they are in grave danger. The forests, which are providing the shelter of these big cats of the brink of extinction, can be protected for their sake with special regards to the prey base, source of waters and, other essential preoccupations that a leopard has to attain. Then, subsequently, these forests can be authenticated as the Leopard Sanctuaries or the Protected Forests. So vulnerable the leopard conservation is in our country that this step could really be a trendsetter to conserve them in a long run. Nevertheless, by attaining this, they would be benefitted a wide source of prey, safe shelters, poaching can be controlled to a much larger extent and above all, there will not be this much human-leopard conflict, which now is gradually turning out to be a point of severe antagonism.
"We can have leopard sanctuaries, but we need a sufficient prey base for the leopards. Any sanctuary for any animal is welcome," says Mr Chakraborti. He added that as pressure on forested land is high due to the burgeoning population, finding specific areas for leopard conservation is a practical issue. This basis does convey the real probability of such a hypothesis. Basing on my own limited experience, I have a conviction that there are three such forests in the first place, which can immediately be declared as Leopard Sanctuaries. The list includes Sanjay Gandhi National Park at Borivelli, near Mumbai in the Indian state of Maharashtra; the village called Bera near the Jawai hills at the district of Pali in Rajasthan; and there is Barnawapara Wildlife Sanctuary in Kasdol, Chhattishgarh. All these are already acknowledged as wildlife sanctuaries, the only further necessity is to label them chiefly as leopard sanctuaries
A few more names can be added to the list. Definitely, here the first place would top the list happens to be Jamwa-Ramgarh Wildlife Sanctuary in Rajasthan. Ramgarh is about 17-18 km away from Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan. The entire wildlife sanctuary is breathing basing upon the large lake over there. The refinement of the lake would be greatly benevolent for both the humans and the existing wildlife. Although the required steps for the refinement of the lake is reported to be taken by the Rajasthan High Court in 2011, no executive practical measure is witnessed so far. This forest could easily be regarded as one of the prime Leopard Sanctuaries basing on the large numbers of leopards found here. Added to this, Asola Bhatti Wildlife Sanctuary in Haryana could make an ideal habitat for the leopards, linking both Sariska and Ramgarh under the vast landscape of Aravalli. This extended corridor could prove itself to be a great exchanging route of the gene pool and as we all know, the Aravalli has been widely designated as one of the greatest leopard habitats, the formation of a so-called Leopard Sanctuary could be turned into reality. The fundamental necessities and the adaptability of leopards could successfully back them up to survive in this patch of ground. The only required step is that the speed limit of the vehicles, so frequent in Delhi-Ramgarh highway just lying beside the natural corridor, should be controlled with utmost regard to the wildlife because many creatures are put to rest by the fatality of road accidents.
By venturing another part of Aravalli, we can explore yet another healthy habitat, which could be exclusively preserved for the leopards. Due to the unavoidable natural circumstances, the urban civilization could not grasp it under its grip. There lies the Jhalna Reserve Forest, just 25 km away from the Pink City, some 24 sq km area of an oasis amidst the desert lying in between Jagatpur and Malabyanagar, unfathomed by the rapid development and civilization, giving space to as many as 25 leopards to live in. Here the leopards are doing well. Jhalna is connected to Galta, another forest to its northern side, comprising 19 sq km reserved area. There are the underpasses for their passage. The boundary of Galta is extended to Nahargarh Wildlife Sanctuary, which is an area of 50 sq km. The extended landscape of these three forests too could be a promising heaven for the leopards, as well as, is a sufficient corridor itself. We started to explore how the leopards are doing right from Purulia. Let us come back to this patch of the ground once again. The Dalma landscape here is noted for the notorious clashes with elephants every year since they migrate through this way. Some fragmentary reports of the clashes with sloth bears too are found to have been occurred at times. The Jhalda-Baghmundi, the Ayodhya Matha-Dalma corridor and the Sutan-Ranibandh-Jhilmili corridor at Bankura too consist of a small population of leopards. Due to the massive pressure of hunting festivals, held by the local tribal community, there is hardly a proper prey base for the leopards residing here. Here the leopards are to be found in quite a distorted state of health – in a condition of malnutrition. If looked after properly, paying heeds to the basic requirements, these couple of landscapes also could be converted to the reserved forests for the leopards. The Dooars in North Bengal too consist of a large number of leopards, the Jaldapada National Park has been enlisted as a Tiger Reserve and because of that the entire Chapramari-Gorumara landscapes too would be encompassed under it. So, though there are leopards in a considerable number, a typical Leopard Sanctuary is not practically possible to be formed up right here.
A number of so-called instituted steps are often followed whenever a leopard encroaches on the human world. The big cat is tranquillized, and relocated to a relatively remote area. In many cases, the leopard dies of the overdose in tranquillizing darts, operated by inexperienced hands. Severe measures should be taken while operating a tranquillizing operations. Two more aspects that we must not overlook. These are the circumstantial hostilities. For a highly territorial animal like a leopard, translocation is not completely risk-free attainment. First of all, there are always the chances of an unwelcome territorial altercation with another resident leopard, be it male or female, of the area where the rescued one is being shifted. Secondly, the translocated animal may feel highly frustrated in the new area due to its unfamiliarity with it. Added to this, there could be scarcity in prey base. Consequently, in both the propositions, the big cat, by all means, may possibly return to its natal area, given the chance of a reasonable proximity and, may cause another trail of conflict with humans. So, the forest department has to be highly advanced with the information of the domain, where a leopard (or any other big cat) is going to be translocated. Thus, the propositions could be sorted out. Lack of prominent strategy will lead to further problems to a much broader angle rather than soliciting it.
To conclude, we have to merge our voices for a choric appeal. Let us come and convey our best together. What Jim Corbett said about this charismatic cat is absolutely true, especially, with regards to the present context:
The best-hated and most feared in all India, whose only crime - not against the laws of nature, but the laws of man - was that he shed human blood, with no object of terrorizing man but only in the order he might live.
No comments:
Post a Comment