Indians For Guns

I came across this informative article on the net which I wish to share with you all!

Weak and hurt wild cats, more likely to turn ’man-eaters'!
Shantha Thiagarajan – TNN - timesofindia.indiatimes.com

UDHAGAMANDALAM: Villagers of THALAMALAI and DHIMBAM in Erode district are relieved after a leopard which killed two people, including a forest guard in SATHYAMANGALAM Tiger Reserve, was captured on Thursday. In the last seven months, five people have been killed by carnivores in the fringe areas of forests in Tamil Nadu. While three people, including two women, were killed by a man-eater tiger in the north division of NILGIRI forests in January, two men, including a forest employee, were killed by a leopard in SATHYAMANGALAM reserve area in the past one month. A year ago, a 3-year-old girl was killed by a leopard in VALPARAI area.

According to wildlife filmmaker-conservationist, SHEKAR DATTATRI, the man-animal conflict is a complex issue. "As long as there are humans and large carnivores in the world, there will be some conflict and it will continue into the future," said DATTATRI.

Stating that our sense of horror is much greater when a human is killed by a wild animal, DATTATRI said, "While one cannot generalize, in some cases, good conservation measures result in increase in the big cat population in some reserves. When this happens, some young or aged big cats may get pushed to the forest fringes where they may come into conflict with humans. When cornered or taken by surprise, such cats may maul or kill a person in self-defense".

Sometimes, an injured or incapacitated tiger or leopard living on the forest fringes may turn into a man eater. "Each case is different and has to be dealt with as such. An accidental mauling need not be cause for great panic and may need no action at all," DATTATRI said. However, when there is a confirmed man eater on the prowl, it will have to be captured and removed to a zoo for permanent captivity or put down, he added.

With the increasing forest cover in Tamil Nadu, the last few decades has seen a spike in wildlife population because of good conservation efforts and protection of animals in forest areas, said a senior forest official. "When the wildlife population grows, there will be a natural shrink in territory leading to in-fighting among carnivores. This forces the weaker big cats to move to the forest fringes for smaller prey," he said.

In addition, habitat improvement with huge prey base increases the population of wild animals, he said. A few decades ago, there was no concept of anti-poaching watchers which is now a core concept for the protection of wild animals from poachers.

"Creating awareness among the public located close to fringe areas of forests will go a long way," said the senior forest official. According to him, there is no shrinkage in forest cover in TN in the last decade.
Briha

brihacharan wrote:"Creating awareness among the public located close to fringe areas of forests will go a long way," said the senior forest official. According to him, there is no shrinkage in forest cover in TN in the last decade.
Briha

What sort of awareness are they talking about. If it is about building houses instead of living in huts. Travel by car if travelling at night, or what.

Atul

Why do they mention only growth in animal population? Why not increase in human population, which I am sure is many times of the animal population growth?

The tribals earlier occupying the forests knew the consequences of stepping on a tiger's tail. The people living encroaching there nowadays are as much "city slickers" as I am!

EssDee,

As per the article the Forest cover has not shrunk in that area for the last decade. Obviously the wild life population would have increased and so would have the Human population.
So that leaves two practical options. Either take care of the wild life and increase the forest cover (not a good option). or reduce the forest cover and take care of the human population (again not a good idea).
Therefore, one should be allowed to kill the leopards that stray out of the forest area. After all human life is more precious. This may be implemented by strictly enforcing the policy of hunters not allowed in the core forest area.
But then the corruption comes into play, it would be very easy for anyone to hunt in the forest and get the animal out of the forest and report the killing there.

First of all 'Arm the villagers'

Atul

aadhaulya wrote:EssDee,

As per the article the Forest cover has not shrunk in that area for the last decade. Obviously the wild life population would have increased and so would have the Human population.
So that leaves two practical options. Either take care of the wild life and increase the forest cover (not a good option). or reduce the forest cover and take care of the human population (again not a good idea).
Therefore, one should be allowed to kill the leopards that stray out of the forest area. After all human life is more precious. This may be implemented by strictly enforcing the policy of hunters not allowed in the core forest area.
But then the corruption comes into play, it would be very easy for anyone to hunt in the forest and get the animal out of the forest and report the killing there.

First of all 'Arm the villagers'
Atul

This is a bad idea
This was done in the past with disastrous results, as the villagers who are not 'hunters' in the true sense, shot & maimed many a Leopard / Tiger which led them into turning Man Eaters, as they could no longer chase & hunt their natural prey.

Earlier villagers were given arms license for 'crop protection', but they misused this privilege by will-full and wanton destruction of wild life & assisting poachers thus upsetting the ecological balance....
Wildlife preservation needs several inputs, such as qualified game biologists, equipment and funds to carry out this task effectively.

Basically it boils down to 'attitude' & a deep concern and understanding of ecology & its necessity to maintain an ideal ecological balance between flora, fauna & humans.

If this doesn't happen then as the well respected Red Indian Chief Seattle verily said......
"It would be the end of civilization & the beginning of survival"!!!

Briha

Briha ji,

That means we ignore the well being of human beings at the cost of preserving the wild life, till some one comes in with a brilliant idea and a topic of conversation continues.

Atul

aadhaulya wrote:Briha ji,
That means we ignore the well being of human beings at the cost of preserving the wild life, till some one comes in with a brilliant idea and a topic of conversation continues.
Atul

You got it WRONG
It's not about "Ignoring" - But working out a solution to create harmony & balance between man & nature / wildlife...
Unlawful encroaching into each other's space is simply not done!
Look at what US & S. Africa have done!
Briha

Briha Ji,

My point is that as per the information given the forest cover has not shrunk in the last decade. So we wait for a solution to create harmony & balance, meanwhile let the human population suffer.
Brihaji, sorry I differ but my opinion doesn't count as the government will do what is necessary to please a few people.

Atul

Leopards and other big cats turn into man eaters because of old age,injuries caused while hunting w boarsand porcupines and fights with other animals like bear and other cats.

shravanclub7 wrote:Leopards and other big cats turn into man eaters because of old age,injuries caused while hunting w boarsand porcupines and fights with other animals like bear and other cats.

more so for Indian Leopards & big cats as the government is with them, allowing them to hunt humans without fear.

shravanclub7 wrote:Leopards and other big cats turn into man eaters because of old age,injuries caused while hunting w boarsand porcupines and fights with other animals like bear and other cats.

I disagree. Out of the four confirmed maneaters I have shot as a.part of the registered shikari team. Only one had a fractured canine and a briken claw. The other three were healthy.

The most famous maneating leopard Jim Corbett shot.....The maneater of Rudraprayag was an old male with injuries. But in the same story Corbett notes that the animal operated for 8 long years and had actually turned to maneating when he was young and healthy and at its prime.

I do not agree with the forest officer who claims that the forest cover in India is on the rise. We all know it. It is decreasing and is much lower that the minimum required. Loss of habitat and increase in human population is adding to the conflict.

I personally feel that maneating is a physiological change in a big cat's diet (behaviour) which may or may not be assosiated with an anatomic deformaty.

Not all maneaters have injuries and not all injured big cats turn maneaters. There are recorded cases where tigers with broken canines never turned maneaters in the wild where they had enough prey base.
A lot of conflict is due to the reduced prey base. The animals turn to maneating simply because of lack of prey.

With growing number of humans and encroachment adaptation is happening at its best. It can be noticed in birds as well where species like Lesser Florican have adapted to farmland in cognizance of vanishing grasslands. Leopards turn into man-eaters for various reasons. Lack of prey base, Loss of physical condition, loss of fear from humans. There have been instances of sloth bears turning into man-eaters while they prefer berries and termites to flesh. Leopard has up to 85 species in its prey base of which some are found very near human settlements which brings them in contact with their worst adversary. A gentleman by the name of Devi Singh until few years before around Bera, Rajasthan would buy sick and old goats from herders and feed them to the Leopards. Accepting the fact that Leopard is a specie that stays in close human proximity and always has is tough but true. At around early 1930 there were tigers around Gurgaon through the Alwar-Sariska corridor now we have pushed them to the brink. Leopards thankfully are still around Faridabad belt as they have flexible diet ranging from rodents to medium sized deer and bovines. Only education and caution would help the locals in the hills realizing that they do have such a supreme predator in the vicinity all the time. I have spotted Leopards around Kumaon and Garhwal region many times and they have always gone about their business.

Regards

Habitat loss and declined prey base due to growing human population and encroachment is the primary cause. Physiological change comes over with living in close proximity to man and familiarity with livestock. Loosing fear leads to predation on both. Deformity, accidental attack and stress level(pregnant or having cubs etc.,injury) may be an another factor for choosing an easy and available prey.
Bera leopards have no prey base and their existence depends on local people and tourists. This may not be a good option for wild leopard in the long run.

Do Big cats like a Leopard survives on fruits & leaf?
Govt. should fulfill the terms and meanings of wildlife conservation. I think the Govt. believes in Co-existence of Preys & Predators. Villages in most parts of Maharashtra are the feasting table of Big Cats. The loves and value for animals seems bigger than those helpless villagers. It's true. If the government can't safeguard its citizens even from the man eating beast in this very century, I proposed that the effecting villagers should own not only a high caliber rifle but also a rocket launcher and hand granade.

And to those commentors who claim that the inflicted beasts resulted from a hunters/poachers are totally insane. If your love one were the victim of such predator, who do you blame? The Leopard? The Poachers? The The Govt? Or the victim?

Thank you..

Out of all the folks commenting on this issue, the only person to have ever hunted a man-eating leopard (four of them, to be precise), says this....

I do not agree with the forest officer who claims that the forest cover in India is on the rise. We all know it. It is decreasing and is much lower that the minimum required. Loss of habitat and increase in human population is adding to the conflict.

I believe all the rest of us armchair fighters for the right of man or beast should let the experienced person have the last say.

And if someone is handing out rocket launchers and AKMs, I would like some. There are a lot of predators out there. Most of them on 2 legs and killing for lust rather than hunger.