Tigers at UP reserve push back leopards from their 'territory'

Bijnor, March 29 A 'territorial' war has erupted in Uttar Pradesh's Amangarh Tiger Reserve (ATR) where tigers are preventing entry of leopards who have been rescued and are being brought here.

The leopards are being pushed right back to the forest's fringes, close to villages and farm fields.

A forest official said: "Tigers are extremely possessive about their territory and due to paucity of space in ATR, they do not let any other predator thrive in their domain, resulting in territorial wars."

In the past two months, forest officials have rescued six leopards from human habitats that have seen an increasing number of man animal conflicts.

Asked why the rescued leopards were not released in the zoo, Bijnor's Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), Arun Kumar Singh said: "After a leopard is rescued, it is examined medically. If it is found to be a man-eater or unfit to hunt, only then it is sent to a zoo. Otherwise, it is mandatory for us to release it in its natural habitat. In all the cases in the recent past, the leopards attacked humans only after they felt their habitat (sugarcane fields) was being threatened."

Amangarh is a buffer zone of the Corbett Tiger Reserve, spread across a 95 square km area of forests, teak plantations, grasslands and wetlands.

Tigers attack other tigers over three things mating, territory and prey.

Similarly, they do not allow the entry of leopards.

Limited space at ATR is a big concern as tigers have pushed many leopards out of the forest which then poses a danger to villagers.

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