Ranga Reddy: Deforestation drives away wild animals to human settlements

Ranga Reddy: The issue of wild animals, particularly leopards, peacocks and snakes entering human habitations in search of food and causing panic among people figured prominently. There are many incidents in district where wild animals entered human habitations.

On Tuesday, Peacock which entered into Shadnagar was found dead on Parigi road near essar fuel center. The peacocks are now roaming like guests in the farms and on roads at Shadnagar, Moinabad, Aramgarh, Amangal and other areas in district. There are also incidents where peacocks are found hanging to high tension electric wires due to which few die with electric shock.

The peacocks, which normally live in the forest, roam like pet birds in RR district. So often that the local residents or villagers take them in their lap to feed them. As they regularly enter homes, villagers keep some water on the premises to help them quench their thirst.

In other incidents, leopard excursions have become more frequent over the recent times, with over dozen straying's reported in the past few months.

Recently, a five-year-old male leopard spotted sitting on the roof of a single storey building at Shadnagar town and upon so many efforts it was tranquilised by forest department officials and shifted to a zoo.

In another incident, a leopard had attacked three calves and killed one of them in the fields of a farmer near Kodamgutta forest region in Amangal mandal.

Last month, on early morning a leopard was found sitting on a busy road at Gaganpahad in RR district. The motorists who spotted the wild cat immediately alerted the forest department officials who along with tranquilizing team from Nehru Zoological park, rushed to the spot to safely capture wild cat. There are many such incidents that happened in Moinabad, Khammadanam village and across the district in recent times.

Experts talking on such incidents say that wild animals stray into the villages and farms because humans took their natural habitat. Deforestation is the reason responsible for the wild animals to move into the human areas. Massive forest areas are the animals prey base and the corridors of their natural movement, they are now encroached upon by humans so the animals are plunging into human habitats in search of food and water. Forests are shrinking every day. We should be not allowed encroachments near the forests.