Leopard strays into human habitation, suffocated to death

really unfortunate incident.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/...cle2942715.ece
A leopard that had strayed into human habitation in the Angamoozhy village lying on the forest fringes of Goodrickal range in the Ranni Forest was suffocated to death when the local people tried to humble the animal on Tuesday.

It was a milkmaid who had spotted the leopard walking along the local Gurukulam in the morning and she had alerted the villagers. Rushing to the spot, the villagers found the giant cat lying on the ground in a rubber estate. The animal slowly walked into the nearby bushes at the sight of the people.

Local people informed the Forest officials and the Forest party led by Divisional Forest Officer, R. Kamalahar, rushed to the spot by 9 am.

Meanwhile, the villagers found that two dogs were killed by the leopard. The crowd assembled protested when the Forest personnel tried to drive the animal into the adjoining forests, saying that it should be either killed or caught so as to prevent its re-entry into the human habitation, posing threat to the school children and other local population.

The police party from Chittar and Angamoozhy too have reached the spot. The animal came out while the people assembled there were trying to trap it using a rope and net. In a sudden move, the leopard pounded on a man who in turn had pushed it down against a rock. Nearly 40 people watching the scene too swung into action throwing their weight on the animal lying on the ground.

They plugged its mouth and tied the legs and the animal fell unconscious by the time the veterinary surgeon, Gopakumar and party reach the spot to dart it safely.

The Forest department personnel took the animal to the Forest Range Office at Angamoozhy where it was declared dead, later.

Dr Gopakumar and the Forest Veterinary officer, Sunil, have jointly conducted an autopsy on the dead animal, later.

Dr Gopakumar told The Hindu that the female leopard was four years old. According to Forest department sources, the scared animal might have been isolated and strayed into the forest fringes owing to the recent wild fire in the locality.
http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/...cle2945952.ece

no wonder it died. see the video below :-

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Sad to hear this one. This is plain murder. We are not even allowing other species to survive. Leopards used to stay close to human habitations. However, with ever reducing vegetation cover, exploding human population which means someone or the other is either collecting wood or using the vegetation cover for defecating*...

Leopard is hurtling towards extinction.
Sabyasachi
PS: * One report says that there are more TVs than toilets in India.

today, the person who tried to wrestle it has been arrested by the Forest Dept. for killing it. This guy is believed to be a noted criminal as reported by local news papers, with several criminal cases against him including murder.

I have never seen a leopard in the wild.For that matter a tiger as well.

Going by the pictures and comments posted by the magnificient members of Indiawilds,I would conclude that spotting and photographing a leopard is far more difficult and remote that spotting a tiger.And let me tell you that those pics of the leopards looked very impressive.Thanks to this beautiful but evasive animal.

Most of Indiawilds photographers and others like us would most certainly may agree with the above comments.

Who is to blame here.It looks easy to make statements like "unfortunate","we never learn","leopards are sure to get extinct" etc.

As a person who visits this place (Pathanamthitta district of Kerala) quite often, wondered what I would have done if I was around when the leopard was spotted.

May be I would have called the nearest forest office.With so many people around would I have given priority to the life of the animal or the people around?If the animal lunges and mauls a human,that person may not survive.

If I started to yell at the crowd not to kill it but only to capture,would anybody would have listened?

We have to agree that there are simple, common people in the streets than wildlife enthusiasts and wildlife photographers.Most of us(Photographers) know how to capture an exotic animal with a camera and not in any other manner!

Crowd behaviour is unpredictable and unavoidable,especially in such circumstances.If the people around that time didnt kill the leopard and only tried to capture it and in that process if somebody was attacked by the animal,who would have taken responsibility?

Iam making these points only to try and arrive at some concrete solutions if at all it exists,to effectivly counter such situations.A thickly populated state like Kerala, and with the most densely populated as well,the difficulties are manifold in avoiding man animal conflicts.

As wild animal lovers and conservationists what is it that we could do to make an animal survive such a situation?

Regards

It is indeed unfortunate that the fate of the leopard was sealed by humans. But I guess Sankar also has a very valid point and as he suggests we are not here to certify what went wrong or how it went wrong but can anything be done here at all.

If I put myself in the shoes of a person present during the incident would I have reacted as expected by a conservationist or as a normal human trying to save another or would I have got shocked at the turn of events and frozen. I don't know. I would have done something for sure (as I would like to think) but I still don't know what. I have a favorite slogan which I tell my friends while traveling, I cant photograph a human, you'll have to become an animal for me to click you. I guess its easier said than done. In a life threatening situation I would probably still save a human as its instinctive.

I agree with the fact that fast receding vegetation is the cause for most man animal conflicts. How I wish this can be addressed :(

Sankar says "As a person who visits this place (Pathanamthitta district of Kerala) quite often, wondered what I would have done if I was around when the leopard was spotted."

A simple question to him: What will you do when you see a terrorist with an AK 47? Will you try to get a glimpse of him or wait on the road for him to come out of the bush? I am sure you will run or drive away as fast as possible and hide.

So why were people crowding around the leopard? Naturally they knew that they are not going to lose their life due to a leopard. They know that the leopard is hiding and at best will take a swipe or two at them and they can then run away. It was more of fun for people.

People have no business to crowd around the leopard blocking its exit and disorienting it. The best possible way is to clamp Section 144 in such situations. Unfortunately, the police can't do so without approvals. So there ought to be blanket approvals for clamping Section 144 of the IPC whenever there is a presence of a wild animal like leopard, tiger, lion, elephant etc to avoid conflicts and give a chance to the animal to find its exit route.

People normally crowd around in India if a special situation prevails.They want to take stock of the situation and involve themselves.Kerala being a densely populated state there are always people everywhere.

One cant blame them,especially if they are locals(people who crowded).Awareness about wild animals and their protection,are more popular now a days than before.But when people are in groups there is no control on their behaviour.

May be on another occation a straying leopard will survive.

Regards