Six districts in Haryana including Gurgaon make do with one tranquillizer gun, trained shooter - Hindustan Times
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Six districts in Haryana including Gurgaon make do with one tranquillizer gun, trained shooter

Hindustan Times | By, Gurgaon
Dec 06, 2016 04:30 PM IST

It is possible that stray wild animals are being killed due to a delay in transporting the only tranquillizer gun available for six districts of south Haryana.

It is possible that stray wild animals are being killed due to a delay in transporting the only tranquillizer gun available for six districts of south Haryana.

On November 24, a stray leopard was beaten to death by residents of Mandawar village, as it took more than three hours for the forest department to arrange the tranquillizer gun and a cage.(PTI File Photo)
On November 24, a stray leopard was beaten to death by residents of Mandawar village, as it took more than three hours for the forest department to arrange the tranquillizer gun and a cage.(PTI File Photo)

On November 24, a stray leopard was beaten to death by residents of Mandawar village, as it took more than three hours for the forest department to arrange the tranquillizer gun and a cage. Mandawar is located 40km from Gurgaon.

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The six districts include Gurgaon, Faridabad, Palwal, Mewat, Rewari and Mahendragarh, which comprise forest area that is a habitat for more than 15 leopards.

According to the Haryana forest census of 2011, the latest official data on wildlife, eight leopards were sighted in the Aravallis. No data has been released since, but forest officials said the number has gone up twice in the last few years, evident from camera trap recordings.

“Leopards from Rajasthan also migrate to this area as it is more favourable for breeding. The core belt of the wildlife corridor extends from Sariska to Asola,” said MD Sinha, conservator of forest, south Haryana.

He said that each district must have at least one tranquillizer gun available to avoid killing animals.

Shyam Sunder Kaushik, divisional forest officer, wildlife, Gurgaon, said, “These six districts not only have leopards, but also other jungle cats, jackal, porcupine, fox, mongoose, small Indian civet, pangolin, hyena, nilgai, chital, sambar, barking deer, goral, wild boar, langur, rhesus, hare, chinkara and peafowl.”

“We lose crucial time when certain incidents take place. Transporting the cage and gun from one district to another is not always possible and as a result, many animals are being killed in the region. The six districts have more than 15 big cats and they do not stay at one place, so we cannot track them. Ideally, every district should at least have one gun.”

According to the forest census of 2011, 129 sightings of jackals, 46 sighting of jungle cats, 17 sightings of hyena and two sightings of fox, were recorded. The department said that these numbers have gone up in the last five years.

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  • ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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    Ipsita Pati is a senior correspondent with the Hindustan Times, covering Gurgaon. She has written on pollution, wildlife, forest cover, Maoists problems and illegal mining while working in different states of India including Jharkhand, West Bengal, Delhi and Haryana.

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