In Aravallis, leopards lose the cat fight to humans

It was in a desperate bid to save the wild cats in the Aravalli ranges that the Supreme Court recently imposed a blanket ban on mining activities in Gurgaon and Faridabad districts.
The last six months, however, have seen a worrying trend of leopards being illegally trapped, shot dead or lynched by mobs.
Experts say the increase in such incidents can be attributed to the fast depleting ecology of the region.
These cats, they say, were pushed out of their habitat due to rampant and unchecked mining taking place in these ranges on the Haryana-Rajasthan border.
It was only in December last year that in a joint operation with the mines department, the Alwar district administration seized 27 trucks and arrested 17 persons involved in illegal mining in the region.
Over 5,000 quintals of stone were seized from the vehicles. Reports suggested that the vehicles had no papers to permit the ferrying of stones. The trucks were seized from remote roads that were being used to give a slip to the police.
Red-faced amid pouring reports of illegal mining in Aravalli ranges near wildlife sanctuaries, the Rajasthan government took some stern action. Reports suggest that the government might have seized trucks and arrested a few labourers, but the actual culprits are still at large and there wasn’t any attempt to identify and arrest the powerful individuals involved in damaging the ecology.
“Most of the mining activity was going on under political patronage and politicians from all parties are involved. The administration is well aware of the actual culprits but there wasn’t any effort to arrest them,” said a mining officer.
Reports suggest that over 1,500 trucks were being used in illegal stonemining in Bhiwadi area alone, resulting in speedy destruction of the ecology in the area.
The worrying bit is that in several cases, the police and deputy commissioner in Faridabad district have stood as witness to the growing man-animal conflict.
On its part, all that the state has done is issue a mild advisory to inform villagers not to block the path of the animal if it strays into their neighbourhood.
According to Mike Pandey, Indian wildlife conservationist and film-maker, the leopard is by nature a shy animal and unless there is absolute dearth of food, it does not dare to stray into human habitat. It is only after their path is blocked that leopards retaliate.
Says Pandey: “It is not the leopards entering our homes but the humans systematically and gradually encroaching their homes. These incidents were unheard of even 20 years ago. However, denotification of forest land for non-forest activities will bring imbalance in the fragile ecosystem.”
According to Conservator of forest, south circle, K C Meena: “All animals have territories marked and do not let go of them.”
Wildlife experts feel that with the forest area shrinking, these big cats are pushed into other’s marked territories and one of them is left with no choice but to venture out in search of food. Also, rampant mining is gradually destroying the population of herbivores in the area.