Foresters say water scarcity causing man-animal conflicts

BENGALURU: Increasing cases of man-animal conflict, especially in regions of Ballari and Tumakuru have become a matter of grave concern for officials of both the forest department and district administration.

Officials of the two departments have said in most cases, more than controlling the animal, managing people poses the bigger challenge. According to forest officials, the most conflict-prone area pertaining to leopards is Ballari, while Tumakuru is from where most cases of conflicts with sloth bear have been reported.

Subhash Malkede, Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife), said this year saw a rise in the number of cases of man-leopard conflicts in Ballari. “The number of leopards captured has also increased this year,” he said. Similarly, a large number of cases of sloth bear attacking humans has been reported from Tumakuru and Ballari. “Not that such cases have been any less in Chitradurga and Hassan,” the wildlife expert said.

Malkede said to check such conflicts, leopards are being captured from places humans live near and released into habitats conducive for their existence. Forest officials point to the scarcity of water due to poor pre-monsoon and monsoon showers this year in Mysuru-Bengaluru regions for leopards straying into human habitats, and their subsequent capture. “Animals are venturing out in search of food and water, bringing them close to irrigation pumpsets,” a forester said. “There have been instances of people chasing carnivores into a forest, with the animal retaliating and causing injuries. It has also been noted that since stone crushing and quarrying activities are on the rise around Tumakuru and other hillocks, encounters with leopards and sloth bears have increased,” he added.

Forest staffers have said that meetings and discussions are held with panchayat and district administration personnel regularly on awareness and mitigation measures, but when such incidents occur, it is the “animals and forest officials who are blamed”.