AHMEDABAD: The Gujarat forest department on Tuesday decided to buy more tranquiliser guns and cages as a precautionary measure in view of the incidents of leopards attacking human beings in the state, the government said.
During the 23rd meeting of the Gujarat government's State Board for Wildlife (SBWL) held during the day under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, forest officials informed the board members that the process has been initiated to procure adequate quantities of tranquiliser guns so that violent leopards can be controlled during man-animal conflicts.
Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (Wildlife), Nityanand Shrivastava, made a detailed presentation on the issue of man-animal conflicts during the meeting, the state government said in a release.
Since the density of the population is high in south Gujarat and leopards are spotted close to human settlements many times, the forest department has decided to buy at least 10 cages for each taluka of south Gujarat to trap leopards posing a threat to human beings, it said.
Moreover, the CM was also informed that the movement and behaviour of leopards are being closely monitored using motion-activated trap cameras and radio collars.
The senior official informed the board that five leopards have already been radio-collared to track their movements.
Recently, the forest department set up two rescue centres at Pavagadh and Jambughoda in central Gujarat to keep rescued wild animals, including leopards captured after man-animal conflicts.
Shrivastava added that two new rescue centres for wild animals will become operational very soon in Surat and Valsad districts of south Gujarat.
Speaking on the issue, Chief Secretary Raj Kumar requested the forest department to open rehabilitation centres for rescued leopards deep inside forest as a long-term solution.
During the meeting, the board under CM Patel approved proposals for 15 different projects, such as laying underground optical fiber cable and installing mobile towers, inside seven wildlife sanctuaries, including Gir, the last abode of Asiatic lions.
Other wildlife sanctuaries include Jambughoda, Wild Ass Sanctuary, Balaram-Ambaji, Narayan Sarovar, Kutch Desert Wildlife Sanctuary and Shoolpaneshwar Wildlife Sanctuary, the release said.
During the meeting, the state forest department was instructed by the board to conduct a preliminary survey of over 69,000 hectares of protected forest area of two divisions of Surat forest circle for the purpose of declaring the area as a sanctuary.