MAN VS. WILD: Kashmir Conflict Mitigation Struggles Wildlife Department with Understaffing

 By ALTAF BABA

updated: January 09, 2023 12:43 AM

                  

               Baramulla: Due to a staffing shortage, the wildlife agency in North Kashmir struggled to address this "interface," which resulted in the greatest number of human-animal deaths in 2022.

However, as these situations have become more frequent, efforts to stop them by implementing novel tactics have also gathered steam.

According to government statistics, seven people perished in various man-animal conflict occurrences in north Kashmir in 2022. Six of the seven reported deaths came from the Baramulla area of north Kashmir.

A quick scan of the North Division's workforce for the wildlife department reveals a depressing image. There are four Range offices in north Kashmir's wildlife division, and they are situated at Baramulla, Sopore, Bandipora, and Tangmarg.

Only 35 people work in the wildlife division of North Kashmir, which highlights the department's shortcomings in resolving the man-animal conflict.

An official from the department stated that the department "is in severe need of augmentation in its personnel strength so that a huge forest region of north Kashmir does not stay undiscovered," while conceding that understaffing is a major obstacle in addressing the man-animal conflict.

A representative from the wildlife department claimed that there were not enough employees. "Several requests have been made to the higher authorities in this regard, and we are hopeful that some real action will be done soon," he continued.

Six fatalities were recorded from the Uri area of the sub-region, according to an analysis of the instances of deaths that happened in the Baramulla district last year. These fatalities occurred in a forest's non-protected area.

The term "protected woods" refers to a region of land that is legally reserved for the preservation of biodiversity. Poaching or encroachment in these places is illegal and is penalised by law.

Along with a national park and a conservation reserve, the protected land area in the Uri area also contains the wildlife sanctuaries Limber, which has 11 compartments, and Lachipora, which has 9 compartments. On the other side, there is no administrative oversight in the unprotected region.

"In protected areas, administrative oversight makes sure there are no conflicts between people and animals. However, because there is no administrative oversight in the unprotected regions, the majority of human-animal incidents frequently occur in these areas alone, according to a wildlife department official.

According to experts, no comprehensive study has been done to determine why wild animals come near human settlements in search of prey, which ultimately leads to conflict between people and animals. "Are these woods unable to meet their own nutritional requirements, or are they being coerced into occupancy by humans? This has to be examined, they say.

According to Muhammad Ashraf, a former wildlife department official, "If a wild animal like a leopard enters habitation for prey despite having a vast area of forests for its food needs, it shows either there is scarcity of food stuff for the wild animal in the forests or there is some human intervention."

According to Dr. Khursheed Ahmad, assistant professor of wildlife at SKAUST, "Evidence-based data reveals that the number of leopards has grown throughout Kashmir, albeit there is no formal census that supports the allegation.

In addition to the growth in the leopard population, the department of forests has created forest nurseries around homes. Because these nurseries give the leopards woodland cover, they are prevented from returning to their native habitats, which are forests.

Dr. Khursheed explained that because these nurseries are close to human settlement, leopards frequently catch easy food like dogs, chickens, goats, etc. "These nurseries give the leopards woodland cover, so they don't have to scour a large area of the forest for food since they can simply catch their prey close to these nurseries. Outside of these nurseries, they would occasionally attack people, said Dr. Khursheed Ahmad.