In another incident of man-animal conflict, five people were injured and several animals killed in a leopard attack at in Kherem Kachari village under Bordumsa circle in Changlang district on Wednesday. The deputy commissioner of Changlang categorically said that the incident is a matter of human-animal conflict and attributed it to encroachment of reserve forest by people.
As population is rapidly growing leading to expansion of human habitation suffocating parks and sanctuaries, incidents of man-animal conflict will only grow in coming times. Such incidents are a huge concern for people residing in the vicinities of protected areas and equally so for park authorities.
In the case of Arunachal, it is a complex problem. Most of the protected areas have sprung up right in the middle of the earlier community land and as the indigenous tribals are largely dependent on forests and its products, such encounters cannot be ruled out completely. Reports show that areas under the reserve forest are cleared in large numbers for jhum cultivating despite all effort by forest authorities to curb the practice. One look at the Itanagar wildlife sanctuary and the Durpang Reserve Forest in the capital complex is self explanatory.
Almost all protected forest areas across the country and the state are facing the same plight with poaching and hunting activities accompanied by illegal felling of trees reducing the animal and plant cover. Famed the world over for its one-horned Rhino, world heritage site- Kaziranga national park in Assam has also been facing the onslaught of poachers; as park officials and animal lovers watch in horror as scores of rhinos are killed each year for its precious horn.
Boasting about the state’s rich flora and fauna, in the present context is akin to deluding oneself. The invasive and mindless destruction of forest cover and animal life has put serious strain on our bio-diversity. If urgent preservation checks are not implemented, time is not far when the situation might turn critical and we lose this distinction.
One of the most distressing aspect of human progress by far is the man-animal conflict- a problem cornering all animals across the globe. As the constantly expanding communities infiltrate their domain, these poor animals are pushed to the brink of despair and extinction. Lack of food and water sources are the major reasons for animal depredation into human habitations and we ought to remember this important point to minimize man-animal conflict.
Arunachal Pradesh government as well as the Forest department must take communities especially those living around the vicinity of protected areas into confidence to enable a symbiotic existence.