HUMAN-LEOPARD CONFLICT IN NORTH BENGAL, INDIA

摘要

Human-wildlife conflict refers to the interaction between wild animals and people and the resultant negative impact on people or their resources, or wild animals or their habitat. According to the 2003 IUCN World Parks Congress, human-wildlife conflicts occur when wildlife requirements encroach on those of human populations, at costs both to residents and wild animals (IUCN, 2005; FAO, 2009). The by-products of human existence offer unnatural opportunities for wildlife in the form of food and shelter, resulting in increased interference and potentially destructive threats for both man and animals. Leopards (Panther a pardus) are the most widely distributed of all the world's large cats (Bailey, 1993). Leopards are adapted to live well in savannah, rain forest, mountain elevations, dense vegetation, low scrub and thickets and even quite close to human habitations (Bailey, 1993). Leopards are widely distributed over all of India and are found even in the drier and sparsely forested regions of the northwest. They are widely distributed in the forests, fringe tea gardens and fringe villages of North Bengal. Leopards in North Bengal may be broadly divided into two major groups, namely forest dwelling and tea garden dwelling. The problem of human-leopard conflicts has recently increased in North Bengal due to changes in the land use pattern.