Tree plantation drive leaves wild cats at the mercy of poachers

HYDERABAD: Telangana is betting big on programmes like Harita Haram to increase tree cover, but it appears to be missing the bus when it comes to safety of the

tiger

, the national animal, and its smaller cousin, the leopard. The grisly discovery of the body of a young male leopard hanging from electric wires in Nizamabad district on Monday is only the latest incident that points to the poor status of the big cats in the state.

Sources said the government’s emphasis on green drive has ensured that the forest department staff at all levels are focused on plantation work for more than half of the year and thus have given the go by to

wildlife

protection duties.

“Tree plantation is vital. But success on one front at the cost of another should not be the accepted norm,” a well-known conservation scientist said. Forest department officials, however, contend they are doing everything they can to protect wildlife.

But Monday’s leopard death in Nizamabad is by no means an isolated incident. In May, a leopard was found dead with its feet chopped off in chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao’s home district of Siddipet. While it was confirmed that the animal was killed in a wire noose trap, no headway has been made in the probe over a month later.

Another leopard that was attacking cattle in Chinnashankarampet area of Medak district had better luck as it was trapped and released in a forest in June.

Tigers too have a hard time surviving in the state. In December last year, a young tiger was found killed and buried in a sand bank next to a stream in Pinnaram area of Mancherial district. The animal had been electrocuted on November 29 in a wire snare trap set up by locals hunting wild boar and deer.

Also, there is no word of the two tigers that made Kawal Tiger Reserve their home last year and went missing later.

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