guidelines for human leopard conflict management

8/7/2019 Guidelines for Human Leopard Conflict Management

1/24

Ministry of Environment and ForestsGOVERNMENT OF INDIA

GUIDELINESFORHUMAN-LEOPARDCONFLICT MANAGEMENT

APRIL 2011


2/24

Ministry of Environment and Forests, April, 2011


3/24

CONTENTS

FOREWORD

INTRODUCTIONBACKGROUND

I. AWARENESS GENERATIONAND INVOLVEMENTOF PEOPLE

II. TEAMWORKIN TACKLING CONFLICT

III. ESTABLISHMENTOF EMERGENCYRESPONSE MECHANISM

III A. MANAGEMENTOF CROWD

III B. MANAGEMENTOFTHEANIMAL

III C. CAPTUREAND HANDLINGOF THE TRAPPED ANIMA

III D. RELEASEORTRANSLOCATIONOF CAPTURED LEOPAR

III E. TRANSPORTATIONOF CAPTURED ANIMAL

III F. MONITORINGOF TRANSLOCATED LEOPARDS

III G. AVOIDABLE RESCUE OF LEOPARDS

IV. HELPING RURAL PEOPLE BETTERPROTECT THEIRLIVESTOCKA CONFIDENCE BUILDING MEASURE

IV A. EXPEDITIOUSAND EFFECTIVE DELIVERYOFEX-GRAT

V C I L C


4/24

FOREWORD

Man-leopard conflicts have been hitting the headlines regStates. I have been consulting various experts on what sdeal with such situations. This booklet, the first of its kind

of Environment and Forests, is a result of the consultatisuggestions from, a wide range of individuals and organin the subject, besides drawing upon reports and scientifion human-leopard conflict. Knowing full well that slocale-specific, this booklet is intended to provide a guito be adopted to deal with incidents of loss of life andby leopards. I am sure the local communities, field forevenue and other district administration officials will useful in dealing with such situations.

Jairam RameshMinister of State (I


5/24

INTRODUCTION

Leopards are a highly adaptable species that live in and aro

dominated, agricultural landscapes. It is a daunting challe

peaceful coexistence of leopards among high densities of hu

of 200 or more to a sq.km. Research indicates that even in

density areas, attacks on humans and domestic animals in

kept to very low levels. The goodwill and trust of people espe

i l d li i h i i i i i i f l


6/24

BACKGROUND

Incidences of leopards straying into

settlements causing human casualities, and

the retaliatory killing of leopards by the public

have been on the rise. The efficacy of captureand translocation of leopards from conflict

areas as a mitigation measure is increasingly

being questioned. This has necessitated the


7/24

Salient Points for Awareness Campaig

i. Leopards often take up residence in croplands and tea-gard

ii. They are not usually inclined to attack people; on the cpeople.

iii. Wild carnivores may attack in self-defence, and, thereforavoid provoking them.

iv. Mere sighting of a leopard in the vicinity of human hanecessarily mean that the animal has strayed from a forecaptured

I. AWARENESS

GENERATION

AND

INVOLVEMENT

O

Modern practices in wildlife conservation call for involvement othe planning and implementation of conflict mitigation measursupport and cooperation from people.

The overall aim should focus on a participatory approach, ensucommunities and other stakeholders for conservation and man

Awareness programmes should target the people sharing space withdominated landscapes like sugarcane fields, tea gardens, fruit orcthe local communities living in forest dominated landscapes, eStates of Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashm

Sensitizing the media about the nuances of the problem of humin general and leopard depredation in particular should be an awareness strategy. Media should contribute to diffusing the tense sconflict with objective reporting aimed at highlighting the mconflict. Reporting mainly aggressive encounters with leopards cantolerance and worsen the situation by forcing the Forest Departmtrap the wild animal due to public pressure.


8/24

II. TEAMWORKIN TACKLING CONFLICT

Efforts should be made to involve all departments, wings agovernment to use a well coordinated mitigation approach whictested and practical, and inter-alia, capable of dealing with emattacks by leopards.

In this regard, it is vital to involve the Police and Revenue Depcrucial for maintaining law and order in the face of extreme pubtraining of police and local administrative staff, and constitution o(PR) Team, along with awareness campaigns are essential ingredconflict mitigation strategy


9/24

III. ESTABLISHMENTOF EMERGENCYRESPONSE M

Immediate response is crucial to manage all conflict situations. Response (ER) team consisting of an officer not below thConservator of Forests, one qualified veterinarian, and a minsupport staff may be formed in the identified conflict area.

Each Forest Division should have a well trained operational E

Each ER team should be equipped with chemical captureappropriate cages, etc. and should wear specially designed unifeasily identifiable during the operation. They should also ha


10/24

The Maharashtra Case StudyIn response to frequent attacks on humans by leopards, the Foreswith the issue by:

Training field staff to handle emergencies of man-leopard cobetter understanding and management of the issue.

Micro-chipping captured leopards to understand theirtranslocation, and to monitor the efficacy of translocation.

Initiating research on leopards living in human-dominaunderstand the dynamics of human-leopard conflict.

Improving design of trap cages.

Creating awareness to avoid as much as possible, unnecessanimal.

Encouraging interaction with media and researchers to creacomplex nature of the issue.

All these experiences were outlined in a management manual th2007 by Maharashtra Forest Department.


11/24

III A. MANAGEMENTOF CROWD

Crowd management is crucial to any successful animal rescuteam, more often than not, is obstructed and hindered in itsmobs, making it difficult to discharge its responsibilities.

Support and cooperation of the police and civil administratioin advance to facilitate effective crowd control and to disccrowds.


12/24

A case study from Jammu and KashmIn recent years, conflict with black bear and leopards has reached in Jammu and Kashmir. In response, the State Wildlife Protproposed the following measures in 2010:

Setting up of a Central Conflict Mitigation Command helpline facility to receive phone calls from local people in th

emergency.

Feeding the details of the incident into a central databasresponse.

Centrally based monitoring and analysis of conflict patternreceived in the helpline.

Creation of community level Primary Response Teams or volunteer members from amongst the local communitmanagement of crowds in an emergency situation, till the staff.


13/24

III B. MANAGEMENTOFTHEANIMAL

The objective should be to give the animal enough space and oto its habitat, and situation-specific rescue measures should bmethod of dealing with a wild cat, in the absence of attacks ointervene.

Following steps are prescribed to deal with different situations.

Unconfined or Open Area:

i. Open situations could mean a barren land, grassland, streewith standing crop or woodland, with the leopard being eiththe ground.

ii If th i l i i d d b l ll tt


14/24

Semi-confined:

i. If the animal is confinedin a dry well or trench,a ladder let down intothe well will allow theanimal to escape in thenight.

ii. Here too, the publicmust be kept away fromthe site, and the rescueteam should monitorthe situation until the

animal escapes.Animal Confined in a Closed Area:

i. If the animal is confined in a closed area, for example in a hoculvert, or caught in a snare, etc., the surrounding entrancemade secure to ensure no injury to the public.

ii. If the area is adjoining a forested area, the animal should bethe night, but if it is in a high human density area it should b

III C. CAPTUREAND HANDLINGOF THE TRAPP

Captured leopards should not be put on display after capture. Succlose contact with humans may alter the behaviour of captured

adverse consequences following their release. Ideally, such leoparcovered cages (Annexure-I). Only healthy fit individuals should

wild.

Following advice may be followed scrupulously while handling ild i l


15/24

its fitness, and evaluation of its response to humans should

releasing it into the wild.vi. If the animal has been kept for more than a month in captiv

released back into the wild.

vii. If the animal is injured beyond recovery or permanently direcommended as the best option. Even if the exceptional dehas been arrived at, the animal must be chemically restrained

viii. NSAIDs (Non-Steroid Anti Inflammatory Drugs) should neverof the animal as these are contraindicated in felids. Long actinbe used for sustained therapeutic effects even after release.

III D. RELEASEOR TRANSLOCATIONOF CAPTUR

The decision to capture an animal should be the last option. that human intervention is restricted to the minimum to avoid fcaptured leopard is to be released, it should be in the immediatei.e., within animals home range.

Leopards are highly adaptable animals, and exhibit amazing htranslocated leopard trying to navigate to its home territory thro

landscape may lead to increased incidences of conflicts rather thaTherefore, it is best to avoid translocation.

No animal captured after a deliberate attack on a human shouldwild.


16/24

III E. TRANSPORTATIONOF CAPTURED ANIMALCaptured animals often get injured or stressed during transportadetrimental to the health of the animal, which coupled with ehumans may adversely alter its behaviour towards humans after r

The animal once captured should be kept and transported in a str

insulated from the public. It is important that humans are not allothe caged animal, and that the cage is also completely covered wiappropriate material.

Tranquilized/captured animals must be transported in the trap itt t t ti C h ld b t k t id


17/24

III G. AVOIDABLE RESCUE OF LEOPARDSA cub without its mother usually does not need rescue as the mwhen she goes hunting. Equally, cubs released without its mothprobabilities. If cubs are found alone, a watch must be kept for tdisturbing them. Cubs are not to be released, but only require mother. Reuniting should be attempted immediately in the nig

from where they were picked up. A suitable camera trap placedreunion site would facilitate the confirmation of the reunion.

Cubs that are hand-reared in captivity have a negligible possibiback to the wild. Lifetime care is the only suitable option for su


18/24

IV A. EXPEDITIOUSAND EFFECTIVE DELIVERYOImmediate response to loss of life, livestock, and property cauhelp calm people. This will prevent violent reactions towards thparticular and wildlife in general.

Payment ofex-gratia should be made fast and hassle free. The po

self financed insurance schemes should be explored.i. In case ofattack on humans, it is recommended that senior leve

visit the site. A vehicle should be provided to take the victim tfacility. The ex-gratia payment should be made immediately

ii. In case of attacks on livestock, ex-gratiaamount should b

week. The complaint should be made at the Gram Panchayat Guard should visit the site immediately. The protocol shouldGuard and Gram Sevak. Extra travel and phone allowance shthe Forest Guard to enable him to effectively discharge this rdelay. Veterinary certificate and photographic evidence s


19/24

v. Bi-yearly meetings should be held where local MLA, panchveterinary, health and forest department officials should dis

human-wildlife conflict, and how effectively it is being mancould also review the existing practice and options of mitigmaking these more effective and people friendly. The above extrained wildlife biologists and other experts.

V. COLLECTIONOF INFORMATIONON LEOPARD

Management of a species should be based on systematic long teon conflict incidences should be collected systematically in ato aid decision-making.

Long term research, focused on estimating the populationleopards in high conflict areas, should be taken up on priority

Identification of conflict prone areas, with data on conflictconflict, and trends, must be collected for better preparation

VI. DEALINGWITH MAN-EATERLEOPARDS

Attacks by man-eating leopards are deliberate with an intentionresult in death, e.g., child being lifted from the precincts of the h

people sleeping inside the house. In such cases, every attempt musthe correct animal, and trap the animal as per the guidance ouafter the first attack by a man-eating leopard, orders from the Chshould be obtained to eliminate the problem animal with the hecages should be installed to capture the man-eater. This is especiaattacks occur in highly populated landscapes.Animals trapped afton humans should never be released back into the wild. Humananimals should be the preferred option.

VII. PROTOCOL TO BE FOLLOWED IN CASEATTACKS


20/24

ANNEXURE-ICAREAND CAUTIONIN DESIGNING TRAP C

1. Trap cages should be completely enclosed (new designs use for ventilation.

2. Iron rods should not be used (thick chain link is preferable)

cage as leopards struggle to escape by pulling at the bars whibeing broken.

3. Old rusty, iron cages should be discarded, and not used to ho

4. There should be a gap of 1.5 inches between the cage floor athe trap door to prevent tails getting slammed.

5. Trap cages should be well ventilated.6. Trap cages should be at least 6 feet in length with the trap d

being at the opposite end of the trap door. The height of ca4-4.5 feet and width ~ 3.5 feet. Cages made of fiber glass (cuMaharashtra) are lightweight and can be carried by 4 people. Coalso be designed and physically tested in the field to assess the

7. Some Dos and Donts for holding leopards in trap cages:

(a) Trap cages should not be used for long term captivity (no mSeparate temporary transit facility should be created for lo

(b) Only one animal can be held at a time in a trap cage.

(c) Water should be made available at least two times a day which can be inserted in a hole at the side of the trap cagebowl of water inside.

(d) Trap cage should not have any artificial padding (no ruha e a tendenc to rip off and eat it hile struggling to es


21/24


22/24

ANNEXURE-IIIIN CASEOF ATTACKSON LIVESTOCKORSIGHTING

No attacks on humans

Leopard sightedIf fallen in well/ran

into house

If above not possible

Mo

Educate public/media/stakeholdersA id ttin tr p f r p ibl

1. Capture/tranquilise2. Shift to isolated FD location

3. Keep people away

4. Release immediately within10 km of capture site

1. Pay cwithi

2. Infor

bury

Keep crowd away in theday and allow animal to

escape in the night

A


23/24

21

We are extremely grateful to the following people fortheir contributions in preparation of these guidelines:

A. K. Srivastava

Amit VermaAniruddha Belsare

B. Majumdar

G. V. Reddy

H. S. Singh

Jagdish Kishwan

Janaki Lenin

Jay Mazoomdaar

John LinnellMahesh Rangarajan

Meghna Krishnadas

Milind Pariwakam

M. D. Madhusudan

Nandini Velho

N. V. K. Ashraf

Paramjit Singh

P. J. ThosrePrabhat Tyagi

Prakriti Srivastava

P. R. Sinha

Raghu Chundawat

Rahul Kaul

Rashid Naqash

S. S. Bist

Sanjeev PandeyV. B. Mathur

Vidya Athreya

Vivek Menon

Yashveer Bhatnagar

Jammu and Kashmir, Department of Wildlife Protection

Himachal Pradesh State Forest Department

Maharashtra State Forest Department

Wildlife Institute of IndiaWildlife Trust of India


24/24

For more information, contact:

Jagdish KishwanAdditional Director General of Forests

Ministry of Environment and Forestsemail: [email protected]

Ministry of Environment and ForestsGOVERNMENT OF INDIA

We are extremely grateful to the following people and organizations for sharingtheir excellent photographs for this booklet:Vidya Athreya, Wildlife Trust of India, Kalyan Varma, Aditya Singh, John Linnell

guidelines for human leopard conflict management

Documents