The man-animal conflict has become dire in the state with most human settlements encroaching on forest land and reducing space for the wildlife.An Indian High Court ordered a complete ban on killing of wild animals like tigers, leopards and panthers that are declared maneaters.
Uttarakhand located in Northern India about 2oo miles north of New Delhi and just north of Nepal is throwing the old "Man-Eater" excuse for killing animals that may or may not have attacked villages in the region, out the window. When India was under British control they categorized an animal as a "man-eater" after it attacks a human or just enters human settlements. However, there is was no process to show proof that the animal was indeed a threat. Villagers could simply declare the animal as a "man-eater" and that gave hunters free reign to kill any animal they thought posed a danger. Rarely did the courts ever ask for proof of the animal's behaviour that led to it's demise. The high court has now declared "The wild animal who pose a threat to human life should be captured alive by using tranquilizer gun in the presence of a veterinary doctor and shall be thereafter released in the nearby forest," Whether an animal is a threat to a human being will be decided at the highest level by a committee, including principal secretary (forest) and principal chief conservator of forest, the court said. Several wildlife has been killed by wildlife and government officials after dubbing the animal a "man-eater." Over 140 predators, mainly leopards, have been designated as man-eaters in the last 15 years in Uttarakhand, according to state officials. The man-animal conflict has become dire in the state with most human settlements encroaching on forest land and reducing space for the wildlife. The High Court also ordered
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