I think the forest department is trying to do their best within the limits of professional capacity they have. We in India really do not have a professionally trained wildlife service or specialized wildlife veterinary professionals, and there are no quick fixes for such issues. One other big problem in all these situations is mobs forming and hampering operations, even photographers and others getting involved and getting in the way.
However, the guidelines of Ministry of Environment and Forest on such conflict management, which were prepared using available best expertise, are comprehensive and useful, if they are followed.
The understanding that the encroachment by humans into the forest habitat results in such animal-human conflict is entirely wrong, but quite deep rooted in the media. The reality is that in the last thirty years because of control of massive leopard hunting of earlier years and huge increase in the number of feral dogs consuming garbage, leopard populations have increased and expanded across India, where people tolerate them.
There are resident breeding leopard populations in rural areas of Karnataka, outside the protected areas, to the extent of over 80,000 sq. km. These leopards are not ‘straying’ from some far away forest because someone disturbed them. They live right around us quietly and harmlessly for the most part. They do not hunt people down, they attack only when cornered like the one in the school compound did.
As for standards and specifications for animal holdings, cages and enclosure area put up at the biological park rescue centre, I have not looked at the cage in question so I cannot comment. But leopards are smart animals, good at getting out of traps if they are not secured properly.
