THE NEW CONFLICT

For a varied set of factors, the wildlife, mostly bear and leopard, are moving out of the forests frequently and have added a new conflict to Kashmir, Minhaj Masoodi reports

- Minhaj Masoodi

Bhat Jeelani received input on July 28, about a bear wandering in the Khrew forest range in Srinagar outskirts. He set off with his crew to locate and tranquillize the bear.

This has become a routine for Jeelani and many other staffers in the wildlife department, deployed in the foothills, close to the forests. With wild animal sightings around human habitations becoming frequent, the department has been on tenterhooks for last many years now. They receive uninterrupted calls about the leopards and bears making forays into human dwellings and many a time, attacking and killing people.

The department came under scathing public criticism after a four-year-old girl, Adha Yasir, was taken away by a leopard while she was playing in her lawns. The news dominated the media for many days. The girl’s mutilated body was found a couple of days later. Some unscrupulous elements uploaded the video of her scattered remains to the social media sites forcing an outrage. By the time, the video was taken down, Kashmir had converted into a huge mourning mass.

The department and the district administration of Budgam were then tasked with locating and capturing the leopard. Two weeks later it was caught in premises of none other than the office of Chief Executive of Budgam, the Deputy Commissioner.

TAKEN AWAY FROM CAR

However, this was not a one-off incident. A month later, another four-year-old girl, Munazah was mauled to death by a leopard in a Ganderbal village. She was in a car with her grandmother. Seeing the window panes down, a leopard jumped in and snatched her while her grandmother watched helplessly. The girl’s body was later found at a nearby orchard by the police.