The ministry of environment and forests on Monday issued guidelines to states for dealing with the man-leopard conflict. A statement issued by the ministry described it as a first step to deal with the complex and important issue. “The intensity of man-leopard conflict has reached serious proportions in the last few years,” the statement said.

The guidelines are based on consultations with a host of scientists and experts who have worked on the issue, and various scientific studies and reports. They outline key action points, drawing upon previous efforts at conflict mitigation by some highly affected states like Maharashtra, Uttaranchal, and Jammu and Kashmir.

A three-pronged strategy has been outlined by the guidelines to deal with man-leopard conflict. Awareness generation amongst local communities, media, and officials of various government departments and involvement of people is the first guideline.

The second important component of the guidelines is establishing trained teams to handle conflict emergencies. Two levels of teams, the primary response team and the emergency response team have been suggested. The PR team should consist of local community representatives trained in crowd management. Their basic role will be to secure the area before the arrival of the ER team. The ER team, comprising of forest department officials and trained veterinary staff will need to deal with the animal in a situation-specific manner.

The third component of the guidelines underscores the use of latest technology and scientific know-how to improve efficacy of capture, handling, care, and translocation (if necessary) of the animal, and to design locale-specific mitigation measures. There is also an emphasis on scientific monitoring of problem leopards and feedback monitoring of the efficacy of mitigations measures, with independent scientists and experts.

Details of how to help rural people in better protection of their livestock have also been given. The protocol to deal with leopard has been described is a part of the guidelines issued.