Guj: State seeks Centre nod to sterlise leopards

Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on Thursday directed state officials to seek the Centre's permission for sterlising leopards to control their population and prevent incidents of man-animal conflict in the state. As per the data released in the state Assembly, as many as 14 persons were killed while 71 were injuredin leopard attacks in Junagadh and Amreli districts alone in the last two years, an official said.

During the 18th State Wildlife Board (SWB) meeting held here on Thursday, Rupani asked officials to initiate process of sterilisation and population control of leopards in the state, after receiving necessary permissions from the Central government. On Wednesday, a leopard was shot dead by a forest department guard in Amreli after two people were killed by the animal in Bagasra taluka of the district, the official said.

Nearly 80 leopard attacks have been reported in Amreli and Junagadh in the last two years, in which 14 persons were killed, and 71 were injured, he added. According to official data, Gujarat's leopard population was estimated at 1,395 in the 2016 survey.

Meanwhile, the SWB has decided that radio collars will be put on leopards that are caught outside the forest areas, before releasing them into the wild, the official said. This will help the forest department to track them and catch them if they attack humans, he added. The SWB has also decided to set up a state-of-the-art breeding centre for endangered species of birds like Ghorad and Khadmor.

Rupani instructed the forest department to prepare a detail project report (DPR) and conduct a survey at the earliest to set up breeding centres in public-private partnership (PPP) mode, a release issued by the state government said.