TOI report on leopard deaths spurs HC

NAGPUR: The Nagpur bench of Bombay High Court has taken suo motu cognizance of a TOI report regarding death of 30 leopards all over Maharashtra. A division bench of justices Dilip Sinha and Ashok Bhangale directed principal chief conservator of forest (wildlife) to submit detailed information regarding their deaths. Treating the news item published on June 10 last year as PIL, judges recently asked the forest authorities to file a reply in two weeks.
The newspaper had reported that these big cats are dying at an alarming rate and were now in greater danger than the tigers.Both tiger and leopard are in Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act 1972 and have highest degree of protection, but there is no concern about death of leopards even though most of them are intentionally killed.
The report mentioned that of 30 leopard deaths, 15 were from villages near Ratnagiri, Sinnar, Junnar, Jalgaon, Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SNGP), Pune, Borivli, and Hingoli while 15 were in Vidarbha. Of these, seven were from Chandrapur-Gadchiroli districts. Three leopards were poisoned in Dhanora village near Kinwat in April. Four deaths were reported in May in Buldhana district alone. Only four of these leopards died naturally. Some deaths have been estimated from skin seizures.
The court also expressed concern over relocation of families residing in the core areas of forests reserved as tiger sanctuaries like Pench, Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR) and Melghat, all in Vidarbha. However, affidavit submitted by CCF (Wildlife) Anil Kumar Saxena informed that the relocation plans are at various stages of implementation.
The affidavit further mentioned that the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) had issued guidelines in February 2008 for 'Project Tiger' where a package for rehabilitation of villagers from the core areas of tiger reserves was announced. Saxena stated that people residing in such areas who agree to relocate were given two options. To get Rs 10 lakh for rehabilitation from the Centre or the state would rehabilitate them with the Centre's assistance. Saxena informed that only after consent from all villagers, the collector concerned certifies the proposal for relocation and forwards it to NTCA for approval.