Summary:
The state wildlife and forest department has to act immediately,” he added.In fact, the latest leopard sighting was reported from Greater Noida last month. However, there are an estimated 200 leopards living in the state’s protected areas, said officials.“Leopards roam inside sugarcane fields of the state and even breed there because of availability of preys such as pigs. Action should be taken on a priority basis to take stock of the stray leopards of UP and specifically those of western UP,” he added. The big cats often leave the sugarcane fields and enter human habitat, and either end up attacking people or getting killed,” HV Girish, conservator, UPWCCB, told TOI.“While the number of leopards in reserved forests are monitored, we do not have any account of such leopards which inhabit the sugarcane fields of the state, and a census of the same is necessary. NOIDA: With at least three incidents of leopards straying into human settlement being reported from western UP in the past six months, the Uttar Pradesh Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (UPWCCB) has proposed the wildlife and forest department to conduct the first census of the big cats that inhabit the vast sugarcane fields of the state.Officials said the human-leopard conflict indicates that population of the big cats which wander from protected areas into sugarcane fields and grasslands is probably on the rise.There has been no such census of leopards till date..