In one day, three leopards die in Junagadh

AHMEDABAD: In yet another case of infighting among big cats in Gir, a leopard was killed by a lion on the outskirts of Dalkhaniya village in Gir west recently. Officials said, the reason of the fight could not be ascertained.

In two more unnatural deaths of the spotted beast, a leopard was run over by a train while crossing an unmanned railway crossing near Gadu village in Junagadh district on Saturday.

In another case, a five-year-old female leopard was electrocuted to death in Varsinghar village of Una taluka in Junagadh district on Saturday morning. The animal got the electric shock after coming in contact with a transformer in an unused mine, sources said.

About the fight between a lion and leopard, officials said: "It could be that the lion had made an attempt to scare another big cat away. Instead, this led to a fight between the two," officials said. Range forest officer A D Atara, said pug marks and injuries on the leopard, suggest a lion was the killer.

The incident, however, gave senior forest officials a chance to reiterate their claim that just like leopard and lion cannot stay together, a tiger and lion cannot survive together in Kuno Palpur in Madhya Pradesh.

Link - http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/h...ow/5383240.cms

I never cease to be amazed by the ignorance of a majority of our forest officials. Most of them are also quick to jump to conclusions that suit the official point of view. Well, I guess it is a malaise affecting our society, but that is a point of discussion for another day.

Lions and leopards have survived in the same Gir forests in India. In Africa, you find the lions and leopards surviving in the same habitat as well. The leopards have adapted to the threat of lions in Gir and tigers in other places. The prey species is most of the times different. For example, a lion or a tiger won’t expend much of energy to kill smaller prey and a leopard won’t be able to kill larger prey like gaur, Nilgai etc. There are ofcourse exceptions. A large leopard can also predate on a large animal like an adult Sambar, but it doesn't happen often.

Are there tigers left in Kuno Palanpur Sanctuary? I was told that the last tigers have died in the place about 5 years back.

I think it is time to educate our forest officials, so that their knowledge of natural history is improved. I also hope, that our mainstream media focus more on environment and get dedicated and knowledgeable reporters so that inaccuracies and misleading reports are avoided.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

One report said...The leopard that died by train accident was pregnant!!!!

Leopard and Lion both can leave together as their prey are different and their size also make a difference where as Lion and Tiger both are big in size, but Tiger is more powerful cat them all so i think its true that both can not live together...

Though Kuno Palanpur Sancuary doesn't have any tigers...one can try to settle them there but I think MP Govt and Forest Dept want lions only for tourism purpose and not for relocation or to save last Asiatic lions. Now Gujarat Govt. not agree/willing to send the lions there, MP Govt preparing plans to introduce zoo breed lions to kuno!!!!! without thinking much about the future of the captive lions...This is big Joke and pure business plan...NPs and Sanctuaries are not entertainment parks....!!!!!!

I'm too against the Kuno Palanpur idea of MP Govt for the sake of lions...In Gujarat we have many other sites to relocate lion prides in different locations other than Gir...its certainly not good thinking to portray Gujarat as Villain in this issue...by media...People only see that media show to them...