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Tusker, leopard population
has Bengal govt worried

A sharp rise in the number of both elephants and leopards in West Bengal has the state wildlife department worried. A recent forest ministry report suggests that the state has witnessed a phenomenal increase in the population of these two animals.

What is causing concern is that rise in the numbers of elephants has had an affect on the rates of human casualties, mainly in south Bengal. As many as 118 people have been reported dead in the past few years as a result of elephants' attack on human habitation nearby depleting jungles.

Talking to rediff.com from his Jalpaiguri residence, Forest Minister Jogesh Chandra Barman said that the elephants' population had increased from 258 in 1999 to 299 this year.

"The grassland is not increasing in proportionate to the rise in elephants' population. Our main headache now is to ensure food for these creatures. We have clamped a complete ban on tree felling, but we will have to establish more grassland to meet the requirements of the elephants and maintain the harmony between humans residing nearby jungles and the elephants," Barman added.

Barman said lack of food prompted the elephants to venture near human population. Often, residents of such areas face an uphill task preventing their paddy fields from being destroyed by elephants.

While elephants are giving trouble in south Bengal, leopards are making life miserable for some in north Bengal. Barman said his department had rescued about 50 baby leopards that had ventured into tea gardens in the last five years.

"These leopards were separated from their parents and were wandering in the bushes of the tea gardens. The leopards' population in north Bengal has reached 300. Hence, we decided to establish an open air Leopard enclosure in Dooars. Displaced leopards will be rehabilitated in this enclosure,' Barman added.

Though no leopard has been reported to have attacked the human population in the region, Barman believes they could well pose a threat once their population increases.

The state government's decision to rehabilitate leopards and create grassland for elephants comes in the wake of the forest ministry's decision to join hands with the Bangladesh government to protect the Sundarban tigers earlier this year.

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