SRINAGAR: A leopard has strayed into an observatory of weather office in the famous ski resort of Gulmarg in north Kashmir, causing scare among the staff posted there, officials say, the second such incident in three days.
The staff of the observatory noticed the leopard in the building when they went to record the minimum temperature this morning, they said.
The panic-stricken employees left the building and informed the police and wild life department, but the leopard soon fled into the nearby forest.
This is the second incident of wild cats venturing into human habitats in the past three days.
‘Rising conflict’
On Wednesday, a leopard entered a house at Ishber locality of Nishat on the banks of Dal Lake here and was later caught by the wild life department and set free in the nearby Dachigam National Park.
Figures from wild life department of Kashmir indicate that the incidents of man-animal conflict have shown an upward trend since the year 1995. During the period of 1995 to 2009, of the total 643 incidents of man-animal conflict bears and leopards were the main animals involved.
In the south Kashmir belt alone, Wildlife officials informed, 19 people have lost their lives and over 200 have been injured in the past two years. The fatality-data of North Kashmir was not available immediately.
The Union Environment Minister on November 26 had announced setting up of a primary response team to quickly deal with the increasing incidents of bear-human conflict in the state.
‘Life is dear to everyone’
On November 24, television screens were ablaze with visuals of villagers trying to torch a bear alive in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district after it had attacked a household in the area.
While authorities ordered an inquiry into the incident, debates were rife on the internet, some criticising Kashmiris for being “inhuman”.
But locals blame the authorities, particularly wildlife officials of laxity in dealing with the issue of increasing encounters between wild animals and humans.
“Life is dear to everyone. Whenever we see a bear or leopard near human dwelling, we immediately inform wildlife officials and police.
However when there is a lack of training and manpower among officials, people are forced to take law into their hands,” Shakur Ahmad, a shopkeeper of Shopian district told a newspaper.
Earlier this month, a man was severely injured after a bear emerged at Zakoora in the interior area of city. The animal, chased by stick wielding residents, had totally defaced the young man before being tranquilized by the wildlife officials.
