Seven persons lost their lives in man – wild animal conflict in north Kashmir last year and several others were injured. Among the deceased were some children from Uri area also.
The man-animal conflict was not limited to North Kashmir only, there were reports of such incidents from other parts of Kashmir also. There is no end to this conflict. Panic grips a human habitation whenever a wild animal enters it.
The steps being taken at the government level to prevent man-animal conflict are not concrete and enough. Some half- hearted moves are taken, which die their own death with time.
The authorities must do a proper planning to avoid wild- animal conflict, formulate a strategy and execute it. The Wildlife Protection Department, which can play a vital role in this connection, is handicapped to do enough as it lacks the required man power.
The department has only a few employees, who find it difficult to meet the challenges. Subsequently, the department comes under severe criticism from people whenever any incident and death occurs.
The need is to strengthen the department with more man power and provide the employees with required facilities, so that they should not find themselves ill-equipped while dealing with conflict on the spot.
This has become imperative also following some reports that there is increase in the population of leopards, who mostly attack the human. One cannot stop their population from increasing but the authorities can protect the people from their attacks.
Efforts should be made so that the wild animals remain confined to their own habitats in forests and do not venture into human habitation. Some experts say that the wild animals do not get enough food in their habitats and enter neighbouring villages and prey on dogs and goats and even attack humans.
Others say that the wild animals come out because of human intervention into their habitats. Whatever be the reasons, this intervention must come to an end. The wild animals should be allowed to live in their habitats without any human interference.
If this intervention keeps on going, there can be more incidents of man- animal conflict. Sometimes this intervention is in the form of raising structures or constructing roads in the wild animal habitats.
Development is important but such measures should not disturb the wild animals at their habitats. All necessary measures must be taken by the government to prevent man-animal conflict and loss of human lives. Strengthening the under-staffed Wildlife Protection Department is one of the steps in this direction.