Saving big cats

A transit rescue centre for leopards is being set up by the Uttarakhand government in Haridwar district of the state, where incidents of man-animal conflicts are common.

"Devbhumi transit rescue centre has been built with a cost of Rs one crore on an area of 35 acres and is now waiting for the final approval by the Central Zoo Authority," Forest Conservator J S Suhag said. A team of government officials are expected to visit the rescue centre next week, he said. The centre, at Chiriapur area of the district, is meant to capture man-eater leopards and provide treatment before releasing them.

It would also have a treatment chamber and control room and equipped with CCTV cameras so that activities of leopards can be regularly monitored. Suhag said plans are also afoot to connect the centre via internet so that wildlife lovers can watch the movements and behaviour of the animals online. Nearly 14,000 villages are located at the periphery of jungles in Uttarakhand and man-animal conflicts are quite common. During the past one decade, 203 out of total 312 people, who lost lives in attacks by wild animals, were killed by leopards alone. This has forced forest authorities to declare 89 leopards as man-eaters while 44 of them were shot dead, according to the official data.