“There is no way we can get hunting quota now as population report has not been prepared on time,” Shyam Bajimay, the former Director General of Department of National Park and Wildlife Conservation and a noted CITES expert, told myrepublica.com on Sunday. [break]
Bajimay, who is now with the Ministry of Soil and Forest Conservation, also said that culling quota (mass killing for population control) considered important to protect the local communities from leopard attacks will also not be possible now.
As per CITES rule, any member can get hunting/culling quota only on the basis of such a study and only if it is passed by 2/3 majority of the member states. Leopard is included in Appendix 1 of the CITES convention which contains lists of species that are most endangered among CITES-listed animals and plants. As per domestic rules, only retaliatory killings are not punishable by law.
The DNPWC has confirmed that no study has been conducted in this regard. “We have had no leopard census so far, so the issue of seeking quota does not arise anymore,” Dr Gopal Upadhyay, the Director General of DNPWC said.
However, it has been learnt that the DNPWC had taken grant assistance from WWF to conduct a census some five years ago and even prepared a preliminary draft of a population report. Asked to comment, Diwakar Chapagain of WWF said, “The preliminary report was considered not up to the mark. But nothing was followed after that.” He, however, did not disclose the grant amount.
Although the lapse would directly contribute to halting leopard killings in the country, the communities which have been affected by the rising cases of leopard attacks remain vulnerable. Among the worst affected areas are Banepa, Bhaktapur, Kakani, Phulchowki and Nagarkot.
Experts have opined that instead of looking at the issue in an isolated manner, a long-term solution must be devised to protect the entire ecology. It has been established that encroachment of forest lands have led to diminishing of the leopard prey-base, which then lures these peripheral animals to the human-inhabited areas.
“In absence of forest areas, it has become easy for the leopards to kill stray dogs and other livestock that are freely available in the villages,” conservationist Manoj Gautam of Roots and Shoots Nepal said.
Stating that habitat fragmentation must stop, Gautam said, “To improve the condition of the leopards there must be a good linkage and understanding between the community forests, leopard corridors must be formed within the jungle areas for their mobility so that they don´t have to pass through human habited areas.”
Besides, Gautam suggested a strong awareness campaign to educate people not to let lose their livestock and form an online rescue team.
“Instead of killing them (leopards), we must have an expert rescue team to capture the man-eaters by use of tranquilizers in case they come inside the villages,” Gautam said.
akanshya@myrepublica.com
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