Over the years, there has been an increase in man-animal conflicts, leading to the loss or injury to the precious life. More often than not, one comes across news regarding the attack by wild animals on humans. In the latest case, a sexagenarian man injured in the bear attack three days ago in Drangsoo Mawar area in Handwara Kupwara succumbed to his injuries at a hospital on August 22.
The rising incidents of man-animal confrontation allude to disturbances caused in wildlife. There is ample evidence that environmental protection confers health protection and forests should be left undisturbed.
No one should lose sight of the fact that wildlife plays an invaluable role in sustaining human and other forms of life. The basic premise of culture has been the co-existence of nature and human civilization but unfortunately, the indiscriminate use of natural resources has gradually turned this coexistence into man-animal conflict.
If poaching is one aspect of the conservation challenge, the other side of the story is the fast encroachments that threaten to endanger animals and the environment.
According to the experts, the fragmentation of habitats, a shift in land-use patterns and poor waste management mechanisms are some of the factors responsible for the rise in attacks.
Kashmir has witnessed massive forest cover changes in the past years, they say. Buffer zones have vanished, and open and paddy fields have been converted into orchards or human settlements, they say. When the boundaries between human habitations and jungles reduce, such conflicts are bound to happen, they underscore.
Destruction of forests sends wild animals closer to humans. There has been reckless exploitation of the environment over the years. Both officials at the helm of affairs and people are responsible. The growing man-animal conflicts serve as a dire warning to all the concerned that there should be no hasty permissions for projects in already enfeebled forests. There is ample evidence that environmental protection confers health protection and forests should be left undisturbed.
There is a need to promote conservation encompassing survival of all as well as diversity of the ecosystem. There is a need to create awareness, as also the action aimed at preventing people from causing disturbances to the wildlife. Apart from it, there is an urgent need for the authorities to sensitise people and also devise foolproof measures to tackle wild animals as and when they venture close to human populations so as to prevent any precious life falling prey to them.
