Leopard entangled in steel net dies

The Hindu,May 07, 2017
KOLLAM,  

A wild leopard that strayed into human habitat close to forest areas at Edapalayam here got entangled in a steel net and died following suspected fatigue as it tried in vain to free itself. The net was spread by farmers to keep crop-raiding wild boars at bay.
Aryankavu forest range officer Jiyaz Jamaluddin Labba said the male leopard was around 9 years old. The net was spread on railway land by nearby residents who are growing crops there. The hind left paw of the leopard got entangled in the net. It tumbled onto a slope and remained suspended by the entangled leg.
Rubber tappers who passed that way early on Sunday noticed the struggling leopard and informed the forest office. Shortly afterwards a team of forest officers led by Mr. Labba reached the site. The leopard was alive at that time. But it took some time for the forest veterinary officer to reach there from Konni. The intention was to tranquilise the trapped animal and set it free.
When the veterinarian reached the site by 10.30 a.m. the leopard was already dead. Mr. Labba said the carcass was taken to the Chief Disease Investigation Office of the Animal Husbandry Department at Palode where the post-mortem examination will be conducted on Monday. Till then the carcass will be kept in deep freezer.
Meanwhile, residents of Edapalayam said the conflicts with wild animals straying from forest areas were on the rise there. Such conflicts have become a daily affair and several livestock and dogs were attacked by leopards in the past. Also wild wild elephants, deer, and boars raided crops, they said.

 

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7 leopard deaths in Kerala last year

Ignatius Pereira,  KOLLAM,  
The Hindu, January 3, 2016

Leopard deaths from the State during 2015 stood at a low of seven compared to 352 deaths reported from across the country. Besides, of 76 leopard skins seized from different parts of the country, only one was from Kerala.

Statistics provided by the Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI) for 2015 show that poaching accounted for two of the seven leopard deaths in Kerala. Four leopards were found dead in forests and one died after being run over by a vehicle.

The accident occurred in the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary at Muthanga on the Kozhikode-Mysore National Highway in April. The vehicle involved could not be identified.

The leopard skin was seized at Shanghumugham in Thiruvananthapuram in September. The seizure was made when four persons attempted to sell the pelt.

Chief Wildlife Warden G. Harikumar told The Hindu that one of the prime factors that could have contributed towards the low leopard mortality rate in the State was the Forest Department’s efforts in preventing the emergence of a market for wild animal parts. “Stray incidents are quickly detected and all involved are brought before the law,” he added.

He said the department had created awareness among the people that killing of wild animals was a grave offence. Another factor was the intelligence gathering activity of the department.

O.P. Kaler, Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Biodiversity Cell), said besides availability of prey inside the forests, geographical and awareness factors have contributed to the security of leopards. Mr. Kaler said though a leopard straying into human habitations was comparatively low in Kerala, when that happened, the cat went unnoticed in most cases because of the protective cover it got outside the forest areas.

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Translocation seldom settles human-leopard conflicts

K.S. Sudhi, KOCHI, April 23, 2014

Picture courtesy: Wikimedia Commons,

The animal might cause problems elsewhere or die in the wild

: Translocating leopards that stray into human habitations cannot permanently solve the human-leopard conflicts, pointed out wildlife researchers.

Referring to the recent incidents of sighting of leopards at Vazhachal forest division, researchers said the translocation could turn the animals more problematic and eventually it might cause problems elsewhere or die in the wild.

Wildlife scientists of the Kerala Forest Research Institute who had studied the incidents of human-leopard conflict in the central Kerala region had earlier listed 16 incidents of cattle-lifting between April 2009 and March 2012.

Most incidents were reported in Palapilly, Pariyaram and Pattikkad forest ranges.

Leopard is a nocturnal feeder, which preferred domestic dogs and cattle when they visited villages. Most incidents occurred in the immediate forest fringes of as close as 50 metres to the forest.

During the study, conducted by E.A Jaison and Suresh K. Govind of the Wildlife Division of the Institute, 13 sightings of leopard were recorded from Palapilly, Sholayar, Pariyaram, Pattikkad and Vellikulangara forest ranges. Two female leopards, aged below four years, were caged from at Malakkapara (Sholayar Forest Range) and translocated.

Leopards don’t go after human beings and prey on them. However, close encounter with the animal can be dangerous. Animals which feel threatened could turn extremely risky. People should exercise caution during the morning and evening hours when they become very active, he said.

The study indicated that the “reduction of natural prey within the forest limits, fragmentation of habitat and alteration of countryside” created a suitable habitat for leopards in the fringe areas. Researchers indicated that “all the areas of leopard attack on humans had an ideal habitat for them. In the first incident at Athirapilly Forest Range, central Kerala, good habitat near the area of attack, dogs in the human habitation, cattle rearing, free grazing of cattle and the water availability amplified the human-leopard conflict.” it said.

Defending their territory

P.S. Easa, Head of the Wildlife Division of the Institute, said leopards, being fierce defenders of their territory, may find it tough to settle down when translocated to other regions. The guidelines issued by the Ministry of Environment and Forest earlier had prohibited the translocation of problematic leopards and it suggested that the animals should be kept in captivity, he said.

The disturbances in the fringe areas of the forest may force them to look for new pastures. The problematic animals should be radio-collared while translocating them so that their movements could be tracked. Though some proposals were forwarded to the State authorities for procuring them, nothing much has progressed, he said.

Translocating the problematic ones without monitoring its movements would amount to shifting the problem to some other place than managing it, he said.

Dr. Jaison said prominent male and young leopards would fight the weaker ones, forcing them to the fringe areas of forests.

Weaker ones would be forced to look for unoccupied territory or move to fringe areas. Prominent males might even kill the weaker ones. Such situations could occur when the leopards were translocated to new territories, he said.

The Hindu, April 23, 2014

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Kerala to cage tigers, monkeys on the prowl

K.S.Sudhi

Wildlife authorities are planning to cage and translocate tigers and monkeys that stray into human habitations. The Forest Department has already placed orders for the cages, according to K.B. Ganesh Kumar, Forest Minister.
Each district would be provided sufficient number of cages for trapping and transporting such animals. They would be later released in the wild, he said.

Photo: N.A. Nazeer, Courtesy Wikimedia commons

Troops of monkeys had been raiding villages in Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, and Palakkad districts of late. Pattazhi and Melala villages of Pathanapuram were recent examples. “The animals forcefully enter houses and help themselves to food,” Mr. Ganesh Kumar said.
V. Gopinath, Chief Wildlife Warden of Kerala, said there were also isolated incidents of the animals attacking people. He added that there had been no proposal for sterilising the animals and thus controlling their population.
Guns missing
Though the Forest Department officials had been claiming that they have enough number of dart guns and tranquilisers for dealing with conflict situations, 12 tranquilising guns, procured during the term of the previous government, had gone missing. The government had issued orders to locate the guns, Mr. Ganesh Kumar said.
Leopard attacks
Wildlife experts warn that the State needs to wake up to the problem of leopard attacks. The recent killing of a child by a leopard at Valparai in Tamil Nadu once again brought the issue of human-leopard conflict to focus in the State. Valparai is just 10 km from the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border.
A study carried out by the wildlife biology wing of the Kerala Forest Research Institute had recorded nine instances of leopards killing cattle and dogs in the forest ranges of Peechi, Palapilly, Pariyaram, Athirapally, and Sholayar in Thrissur in 2010. Though the animals had attacked people in Kerala, no casualty had been reported from here, said E.A. Jayson, who led the study, said.
In Kerala, leopards were sighted mostly in the fringe areas of forest, said P.S. Easa, a wildlife expert.
The animals had strayed into human habitations in Wayanad, Tirur, and Thodupuzha too. He suggested that practice of releasing the trapped animals in Muthanga forest should be discontinued.
According to P.O. Nameer, Associate Professor and Head of the Wildlife Forensic Unit of the Kerala Agricultural University, stray leopards were mostly sighted in human habitations located between the natural habitats of the animals. Though no human casualty had been reported in Kerala, the State needed to step up vigil, he said.
The Union Ministry of Environment and Forest had earlier issued guidelines for managing man-leopard conflict situations. The guidelines should be followed, he said.
Dr. Nameer said that leopards with proven tendencies to attack people should be kept in captivity. They should not be relocated or released to the wild as they were likely to return to their home ranges.

The Hindu,

KOCHI, February 13, 2012

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