Srinagar, Apr 2: Man eater leopard that killed two minors in the past 20 days was on Tuesday in the Harwan area of central Kashmir’s Budgam district, officials said.
An official said that after hectic efforts by the Wildlife officials, the man-eater leopard was killed today in the Harwan area.
The leopard had claimed the lives of two minor girls after attacking them in the Khansahib and Samsan areas of the district in the last 20 days. It had also left a minor boy injured after attacking him near his house.
Following the attacks by the wild animal, Deputy Commissioner Budgam had issued shoot-at-sight orders to kill leopard as the residents have been living under constant fear.
More than 39 people have died and 432 injured in the human-animal conflict in Kashmir from 2018-22.
In 2021, nine people died and 57 got injured after being attacked by the wild animals in the valley. In July 2021, a four-year-old girl in Ompora Budgam was taken away by a leopard from the lawn of her house and mauled to death.
In the same month, a minor girl was taken away by a leopard from the car and mauled to death in central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district. In another incident, a 7-year-old boy also mauled to death by a leopard
In 2020, five people were killed by wild animals in Kashmir, while 87 were injured. The years 2019, 2018, and 2017 saw 11, 6, and 8 people being killed by wild animals respectively. Around, 85, 83, and 120 people were injured respectively.
A cursory look at the data for the last 15 years shows that 233 people have been killed by the wild animals in the valley. Over 2886 people have been injured by wild animals.
An official from the Wild Life Department told The Kashmir Monitor that the human-animal conflict has increased primarily due to the dearth of food for the wild animals in forests.
“We have seen leopards moving towards the habitation to attack dogs. The population of dogs has increased and they are becoming soft targets of leopards,” he said.
The official said that they have deputed men in all districts to rescue wild animals.
Human-animal conflict (HWC) occurs when wildlife requirements overlap with those of human populations, creating costs both to residents and wild animals.
