Editorial | Rise in Man-Animal Conflict  

The Kashmir Valley, especially areas lying in proximity, has been witnessing a steep spike in man-animal conflict over a considerable period of time now. We almost on a daily basis now get to hear about attacks by wild animals in the length and breadth of Kashmir and more often than not these incidents prove fatal to human lives. The districts of north Kashmir – Baramulla, Kupwara and Bandipora – not only have lost precious lives to these attacks but have evenly lost a sizable number of livestock. Every once the Summer returns, so do these beasts – mainly in search of food. There may be multiple facets attributed to these happenings, but one which every sane mind will concede to is the undue felling of forests coupled with human encroachment into forest lands – ultimately depriving these animals of their shelter and making them to roam around in human habitations. The other fact resulting in injuries and loss of human lives nonetheless is the dearth of manpower and equipment in the Wildlife Department. In many instances, the Wildlife Department, especially in north Kashmir, have been decrying their inability to neutralize the animals because of lack of manpower or equipment only. And many times those persons already employed in the Department have been too inept to deal with such situations. All in all it is the common man who has to bear the brunt. The authorities at the helm of affairs should educate the people in the man-animal conflict prone areas about occurrence of such incidents and at the same time focus to increase the preparedness of the Wildlife Department by making ample numbers of persons available to help them in tackling such precarious situations. One genuinely expects that the authorities will step in more vigorously to do the needful for the larger benefit of the public.