Uttarakhand to send man-eater leopards to rescue centres in other states

The Uttarakhand forest department is preparing to send man-eater leopards trapped alive to rescue centres in different states as the two rescue centres in Nainital and Haridwar districts are getting crowded, a top official said on Sunday.

"The Central Zoo Authority has given its approval to the move in principle and the process of shifting trapped man-eater leopards to rescue centres in different states will begin in a phased manner after obtaining a formal permission from the state government," Chief Wildlife Warden J S Suhag told PTI.

The move is meant to unburden Uttarakhand's two rescue centres which are getting crowded, he said.

While the rescue centre at Chidiyapur in Haridwar district is full to capacity with eight leopards there, the one at Ranibagh in Nainital district has three felines against its capacity to accommodate four, Suhag said.

Leopards are trapped alive in different parts of the state in large numbers each year and lakhs of rupees are spent on their maintenance, he said. Man-eater leopards trapped alive are usually sent to zoos or kept in makeshift open enclosures under the supervision of forest department personnel.

The idea to shift them to rescue centres in other states was born when it was realised that many of them have enough vacant space for them.

"The rescue centre at Jamnagar in Gujarat, for instance, has a capacity to accommodate 50 leopards but it has only four. Once the state government gives its consent, we plan to send six man-eater leopards to the rescue centre at Jamnagar in the first phase," he said.