by Playfuls Staff |
8th April 2007
In the first such study, panthers in the Sariska forest area of Rajasthan will be fitted with radio collars to study their behavioural patterns after some of the big cats strayed out of the [more] forest and attacked humans.
The five-year study is being done by the Dehradun-based Wildlife Institute of India. Radio collars would be fitted on 12 panthers - four male, four female and four cubs in Sariska, over 140 km from here.
"This is the first time that such a study is being undertaken in the country in which the use of habitat, the travelling pattern and eating habits of panthers would be monitored and analysed," L.N. Dave, state forest and environment minister, told IANS.
The study will start this June and go on till May 2012. "It will help us in knowing the eating habits of the panthers living in Sariska, including the census of the animals they prey on," Dave said.
According to wildlife experts, panthers prefer to roam alone in the wild and are almost entirely solitary. They hunt a wide variety of animals, mainly birds and small mammals, but sometimes they kill deer and Nilgai.
However, these wild cats have of late started to intrude into areas inhabited by humans and there have been reports of their attacking people in both rural as well as urban areas.
"This study would certainly help in studying this growing problem and in finding a solution," Dave said.
As per the 2004 wildlife census, there are over 550 panthers in the state with Sawai Madhopur, which houses Ranthambore National Park, having a maximum of over 83 of the cats.
The Sariska tiger reserve has been in the news in the recent past on account of disappearance of tigers. In March 2005, a report by the Wildlife Institute of India confirmed that there were indeed no tigers left in Sariska.
The state government submitted a project report to the union government for rehabilitation of tigers in Sariska. The project was sanctioned last November and officials are planning to re-locate a male and female tiger in Sariska from Ranthambore national park.
Sariska tiger reserve, covering an area of 881 sq km, has other wild animals, including jungle cats, hyenas, jackals, deer and wild boar. Apart from targeting tigers, poachers have been killing other animals, including panthers. The poaching appears to be linked to a well-established network of tiger parts traders.
© 2007 Ians.in
