Drought forces wild animals from PTR to stray into villages; escalates man-animal conflicts;

Erratic rain in the area is one of the major reasons for water crisis in the Palamu Tiger Reserve. The drought forces animals out of their habitats endangering human lives in the adjoining areas.

Palamu: With water sources drying up fast, instances of wild animals straying into villages sharing boundaries with the Palamu Tiger Reserve (PTR) and the man-animal conflict are on the rise in Jhakrhand. The leopard attacks have increased in Palamu, Garhwa, and Latehar since the onset of water scarcity. So far, five have lost their lives, while more than a dozen injured in the attacks. Of the 5 dead, four are children.

Forest officials said, "the leopard, which threatens the villagers is now holed up in the Bhandariya area of Garhwa. The department has sought permission to kill the leopard." Hyderabad's shooter Nawab Safat Ali Khan has been camping in the Garhwa area looking for the leopard.

While humans are fortunate enough to get potable water through tankers or from borewells, the animals aren't. A dozen small and big rivers including Son, Koyal, Amanat, Tehale, Auranga, Batane, Malay, Sadabah, Durgavati, and Kanhar pass through the Palamu division. Except for Son and Kanhar, almost all the rivers have dried up.

Environmentalist Kaushal Kishore Jaiswal said, "leopards and deers, among other wildlife, have started venturing into human habitats in search of water, creating panic among the residents of nearby villages. The grass has also wilted in the forest area, indicating a scarcity of water. The situation will become worse as summer arrives."

Wildlife experts say the challenge of the forest department would be to keep the animals inside the forest ranges amid water scarcity. Prof DS Srivastava said, "The officials need to plan on how to provide water in the forest and how to stop wild animals from entering the nearby villages."

He said, "the effect of drought will remain for the next three years in the area. Several natural water sources of the Palamu Tiger Reserve and other adjoining areas have dried up while the storage is very poor in whatever body which has water. The drying up of water sources in January is alarming."

The PTR director Kumar Ashutosh said the department was closely monitoring all the natural and artificial water sources. "More than 160 water tanks have been setup in the PTR area to fight severe water scarcity in the area," he said adding that steps were in place to supply water to all places where water level has dwindled."

Palamu Tiger Reserve is spread over 1129 square kilometers. Out of which grassland is present only in 10 square kilometers. Rivers like Koel, Budha, and Auranga are major water sources in Palamu Tiger Reserve. There are 360 different types of wildlife species present in Palamu Tiger Reserve.

It has three tigers, around 90 leopards, more than 140 elephants, around 10 thousand deer, 60 bison, and more than 250 grey wolves. This area is also a corridor of elephants. The area of the PTR are spread across Palamu, Garhwa, and Latehar.

Timeline of deaths reported due to man-animal conflicts

1. On December 10, a 12-year-old girl was killed by a leopard in Barwadi, Latehar.
2. On December 14, a six-year-old girl was killed in Rodo of Bhandariya block of Garhwa.
3. On December 19, a six-year-old child was killed in Sevadih of Ranka, Garhwa.
4. On December 28, a 14-year-old boy was killed by a leopard in Ramkanda, Garhwa.
5. Earlier in January, a man was killed in a leopard attack in the Latehar area.