As many as 11,000 domesticated animals along with 79 humans have been killed by wild animals | Photo Credit: Thinkstock

Dehradun: Man-animal conflict has wreaked havoc in Uttarakhand taking a toll on lives of as many as 7,400 animals and 79 people since January 2017, said Harak Singh Rawat, Forest Minister in Uttarakhand on Wednesday in a written reply to Vidhan Sabha.

Marked as a sensitive area when it comes to incidences of man-animal conflicts, Uttarakhand’s forest department resorted to deploying a hunter in order to capture a leopard after a child was attacked by it in Bageshwar. The leopard is allegedly yet to be neutralised.

As many as 11,000 domesticated animals along with 79 humans have been killed by wild animals in the last one and a half year, as per available data. Agricultural land of about 1,200 hectares has been ruined by the animals as per the official records.

As per the experts, deforestation and urbanisation have led to an increase in man-animal conflict as the cities continue to expand in the plains and the hills keep shrinking.

Joy Hukil, a hunter based out of Pauri Garhwal who has neutralised more than 30 man-eating animals, while talking to News18 said that attacks by leopards are on the rise in the hills as locals are leaving agricultural occupation and thereby giving more space to the members of the cat family to venture out in the open, near to human settlements.

The situation is just the opposite in areas like Haldwani, Haridwar, Rishikesh, Khatima and parts of Dehradun where expansion into elephant territories and other parts of the forest is taking place.

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