Kadassery residents live in fear of wild cats
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The residents of Kadassery, a ward in Piravanthur grama panchayat bordering the woods right here in Kerala, have been dwelling in fixed fear for the previous few days. Repeated leopard sightings, assaults on livestock, and disappearing canine, have left them edgy and the villagers say there have been a gentle spike in such incidents. They imagine that the large cat inhabitants has swelled in the world, posing a severe menace to their routines.
“Though it is not a new issue, the situation has aggravated of late. In the last 12 days, around 10 dogs have vanished and sightings have been reported from several neighbourhoods. People are panicking, as we have not experienced such frequent sightings and attacks in the past,” says Arya Sasidharan, ward member.
According to the ‘Status of Leopards in India 2018’ report launched by the Union Environment Ministry, the State has a complete of 650 leopards. But specialists say the determine could be removed from actual and we hardly have any correct estimate concerning the leopard inhabitants in Kerala.
Figures
“What we have now is a figure based on the tiger census and 650 is an underestimation. It can only indicate the lower limit and the higher limit is unknown,” says E.A. Jayson, scientist and Head of the Department of Wildlife, Kerala Forest Research Institute.
He provides the State is but to conduct any particular examine on human-leopard battle whereas the official documentation is kind of based mostly on instances that declare compensation.
“Leopards always stick to their territories and sub-adults are usually kicked out of their mother’s territory when they grow. If they can’t find any prime location inside the forest, they can always stray to village areas and it’s not a new phenomenon. They spill out to human settlements,” he says.
Renjan Mathew Varghese, State director (Kerala), WWF India, factors out that enhance in numbers can’t be the prime cause for the animals to stray, as Kerala forests can all the time accommodate extra leopards.
“A spate of issues including the depletion of their prey base and old age can contribute to straying. Also, there is no specific documentation of the incidents and attacks other than broad reports of escalating conflict.”
He provides it’s not attainable to generalise on the idea of species or geography in relation to addressing human-wildlife battle. “The issue in Wayanad will be different from Thiruvananthapuram or Pathanamthitta. We need to monitor the forest fringe for a specific period to reach any conclusion,” he says.
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