Snow drives out wild animals from Dhauladhars

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Ravinder Sood

Palampur, January 29

Snowfall in the Dhauladhar hills and cold weather conditions in the Kangra valley have forced wild animals like leopards, bears and sambars (Asian Deer) to descend to lower areas in search of food. The descending of animals has also triggered man-animal conflict. Poachers have become active and cases of illegal hunting are on the rise.

In the past few weeks, leopards have been spotted in different parts of Palampur, Baijnath, Panchrukhi, Mehanja, Banuri and Gopalpur at late hours. Besides, dozens of sambar have been seen in Sullah, Thural and Jaisinghpur areas in broad daylight.

Reports of animals preying on pets have also come from the Palampur, Baijnath, Bir and Panchrukhi areas. A leopard was spotted in the thickly populated Chopati area of the Palampur MC.

The pictures of leopards moving on Palampur roads in the late hours recently went viral on social media. A Wildlife Department official said the winter had driven animals to lower areas and the incidents of poaching had risen. He urged the public not to harm innocent animals and contact forest officials in case leopards were spotted.

“The descending of wild animals to the lower areas is normal after snowfall. People have been asked to cooperate with the Wildlife Department and not harm them. Though the leopards are accustomed to extreme snowfall but many a time, they descend to the lower areas in search of prey,” said Nitin Patil, DFO, Palampur.

Humans are intruding into the natural habitats of animals. “We have destroyed forests for timber. We are encroaching upon jungles and have buiilt power projects and highways on their habitats. Wild animals have nowhere to go. Hence, they enter human settlements,” said RK Gupta, former Principal Conservator of Forest.

He said it was a misconception that poaching had stopped in the state. He stressed on launching awareness drives and strict laws to tackle the problem.