Human-leopard encounters have become an increasing occurrence in recent years. Last week at Gonaganara, Buttala a prowling leopard was captured and trans-located in another area. The Sunday Observer takes a closer look.
It is only the Buttala-Kataragama main road, which has an electric fence and an eight ft. trench that separate a cluster of villages, namely 16th, 17th, 18th and 19th Mile Post villages, Koonketiya and Gonaganara from the Yala and Lunugamwehera protected areas. Wild animal sightings are not a strange occurrence to these villagers. Therefore, a few months ago when they sighted a leopard close to their villages, it was normal. However, the risky presence of this apex predator of the country alerted them to maintain heightened vigilance.
Moreover, there was a not so usual element to these sightings. “Suddenly, we started losing cattle and dogs in the night. Later, we understood that it is the very same leopard coming from Yala which is the culprit,” says Channa Gunawardene of Gonananara. Losing their livestock which hadn’t happened previously was a sign that the leopard was coming into their villages. The presence of a leopard in these villages was unusual as well. A few years ago it wouldn’t have happened. There was ample forest cover in the surrounding areas for animals to move from one place to another.
However, about eight to ten years ago much of the forest was levelled to give way to agri-business by locals as well as multinational companies, say villagers. “Dole Lanka has planted about 500 to 800 acres of banana, cutting down the forest with the blessings of politicians. On the other side is the sugar plantation. And now, we get leopards coming into our villages,” they lament.
A few weeks ago, the threat increased. “Every two or three days, a dog or a calf would go missing. Sometimes even poultry,” says Kithsiri Arunapperuma of 16th Mile Post. Then it became almost a daily occurrence. “We feared that children’s lives would be in danger,” he explains.
Moreover, the leopard tried to attack two motorbikers late in the night. Led by the Grama Niladhari, the collective of Village Welfare Societies informed the Police and the DWC office, at Galge about the situation.
“Normally, leopards don’t come out in rainy weather under cold conditions,” says a DWC officer who had gone to the village armed with elephant-crackers (large firecrackers used to ward off elephants) to scare off the leopard. Villagers, marked out three main routes, where they had noted the leopard. Gonaganara Bridge was the first area they started inspecting. “We didn’t see the leopard. So, we left.
Within five minutes a villager called to report that the leopard was seen jumping over the trench. Later, we saw it about 30 feet away from us.” Though they had lit most of their stock of firecrackers, this had had no effect. “It didn’t move, we had to seek other measures.” Meanwhile, another man returning home late on a motorbike had got injured when the leopard jumped at his bike. “It kept coming back. We saw that it was getting bold in its encounters with people. We had to take a decision for the safety of the villagers as well as the animal,” explains a DWC officer. The result was the decision to capture and trans-locate the leopard.
“We set the trap with bait on one of the three routes of the leopard,” says Veterinary Surgeon Ananda Dharmakeerthi, who led the operation.
The first two nights had been disappointing. “At dawn on the third day, villagers reported the leopard was trapped.” With the help of the villagers and the Police, DWC officers transport the leopard safely to Udawalawa, Ath Athuru Sevana, for further examination. “It was an adult male, about seven feet in length and three and a half in height, with no damage at all. It must have come into the villages for easy prey,” comments Dharmakeerthi.
It is “unusual behaviour for a healthy male,” comments Ranger, Janaka Shantha Kumara, Galge DWC Officer In-Charge. Leopards do not usually go in for easy prey unless a physical handicap or ageing leaves them feeble and starving. Yala, with a very high prey density per square kilometre, with an abundance of spotted deer, would have been the ideal setting for this leopard.
“Unless, his territory was encroached by another, stronger male,” explains Shantha Kumara. Competition between two leopards would make the weaker, avoiding confrontation to seek new territory away from its home range. “If so, it is normal for it to be drawn to a place with easy prey.”
The incident is, “not a common occurrence,” comments DWC Director General Chandana Sooriyabandara. The reason behind capture and trans-locating the leopard was the danger the situation posed to the people as well as the leopard.
“Animals tend to use the same routes and areas they have been using for centuries. As we can’t relocate people we had to trans-locate the animal,” says Sooriyabandara. While he assures that the leopard was trans-located in an area away from the people with less leopard distribution, he said, “the location cannot be divulged.”
Meanwhile, renowned Leopard Researcher Anjali Watson, questions whether the villagers could be sure it is the same leopard they captured. Commenting she couldn’t speak specifically about the incident as she was neither there, nor visited the site, she says that taking small prey is the usual behaviour of a mother with cubs. As for the particular ‘attacking’ of motorbikes it could be a male residing close by or attempting to move through to find new territory, agitated by vehicular traffic on this usually quiet road, showing defensive behaviour, she suggests. There is a possibility that the one preying and the one captured being two different individual leopards.
Watson is not happy with the trans-location of the leopard. “It is not a solution, especially if not done to an adjacent location.
It is a last option if at all and only if there is no other alternative.” Studies in India show it is not a successful option. The vacant area will be filled by another leopard often causing more issues as it is new to the area.
“Often it is agitation by people due to fear of the unknown that leads to DWC needing to take action that otherwise they would not want to,” comments Watson.
The best long-term solution for increased human-leopard encounters is increased awareness of the behaviour of these big-cats, she says. “If we are to continue to have wildlife in this country we need to think carefully about what course of action we are going to take as a nation.”
Sri Lanka’s leopard population live outside in many forested areas, in addition to habitats inside the protected area boundaries. Leopards are recorded in human habitations, especially in the hill country tea estates.
As it is human intruders who encroach on areas which have been animal habitations for millennia, it is imperative to understand and implement strategies for human-animal coexistence. We must learn to co-exist with wildlife understanding their behaviour.
Wild animals don’t attack easily. It is their defensive strategy. By giving them space to move, especially for nocturnal animals such as leopards we can have a peaceful co-existence with wildlife.