Chennai: Eastern Ghats spread over northern Tamil Nadu suffers heavy fragmentation of forests leading to straying of wild animals. Do not translocate the minuscule wildlife from their home, say conservationists and foresters.
“Remember, there were only seven elephants for the eastern ghats stretch in Tiruvannamalai and Vellore. Of this six have been moved out of their habitat and now there is a popular demand to trap the elusive leopard from Chengalpattu.
Moving animals from their habitat will impact bio diversity of the already fragile Eastern Ghats" opined conservation scientist A. Kumaraguru of Biodiversity Conservation Foundation.
“In my opinion, the forest department is doing the right thing allowing the leopard to prowl in its home range and the beast is not posing any threat to humans.
In another four to five years, the leopard will die and will be replaced by another predator, so why panic over it, asked the biologist.
According to Kancheepuram district forest officer Ritto Cyriac, “Efforts were made to trap the leopard over the past two years. Cages were set to trap, but the feline remains evasive. Of the seven camera traps, two trapped the movement of the male leopard and we are monitoring the predator. We have been observing this big cat for some months and he is a shy animal mostly confined to his territories and there is nothing to panic and worry over the leopard,” the officer said adding that temporary troughs supported by water pumps have been created in Chengalpattu reserve areas to ensure that the leopard stays inside the jungle for its water requirement.
Despite rapid urbanisation, Chengalpattu is still a home to deer and small animals thus catering to the prey base of leopard, said ranger A. Gopu adding that timber felling and poaching incidents have reduced in the area because of the leopard's movement.
