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Magazine
Encounters in the wild
KUMARAN SATHASIVAM
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As humans press deeper into its territory, can the leopard be blamed for human-animal conflict?
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“Familiarity with man and his ways make The man-eating panther more to be dreaded than the tiger.”
Reserved: Leopards have lived near human settlements for ages.
Reports of leopards wandering into human areas are not particularly uncommon in our newspapers. Some cases that spring to mind include the leopard that fell into a well and was subsequently beaten to death in Guwahati; the solitary leopard, panther i
f you will, that wandered around in Vandalur zoo in Chennai after dark; the leopards of Borivli that were reported to have attacked humans.
Adaptable species
But there are many instances of leopards falling into wells or even wandering into buildings in towns or villages, far away from forests. It is as though these animals were reminding us that they are an adaptable and widespread species. In the words of Prater, “panthers are able to live and thrive almost anywhere. They are not restricted to forests or heavy cover like tigers, and thrive as well in open country as among rocks and scrub”.
It is all very well to say that leopards can live in a variety of habitats; if they are widespread, why do we not see them more often? The answer clearly has much to do with what Jerdon says, citing Blyth: “The pard is a particularly silent creature, very stealthy, and will contrive to dodge and hide itself in places where it would appear impossible that a creature of its size could find concealment”.
So if leopards live around us without our knowledge, what do they eat? Large animals need substantial fare to sustain them, don’t they? Not really. Leopards are unlike tigers in that they do not rely as much as the latter on large prey species. Prater again: “The panther will kill and eat anything it can overpower with safety, cattle, deer and monkeys, the smaller beasts, and larger rodents, like porcupines.” Significantly, “the bill of fare is extended to include birds, reptiles and crabs.”
On the one hand, the leopard is by disposition a reserved creature, inclined to lead an existence away from human scrutiny. On the other hand, man maintains various domestic animals in his settlements, and the leopard, with its catholic diet, is not averse to helping itself. It is almost as if there were two personalities in the leopard, two species. Interestingly, before Prater, in the 19th century and into the early 20th century, various authorities recognised as two species or at least two forms what is believed today to be one species, the leopard.
The larger one was said to be lighter in colour; this second form was described as having comparatively shorter legs and a rounder head. The names leopard and panther were used to distinguish the two. Notably some British sportsmen and native shikaris also noticed a difference in their behaviour. One form was different from the other: it did not confine itself to forests but would roam fearlessly among villages, seizing domestic animals with audacity.
Keen interest
Regardless of the number of species involved, leopards must have lived in the vicinity of human settlements since civilisation began. And they must have maintained a keen interest in man’s activities. The existence of the average Indian villager, in historical times, must have been fairly precarious. Coping with disease, drought and robbers, among other inconveniences of life, he must have sat over a fire at night, seeking to protect his crops. One can imagine him throwing another log on to the ebbing flames and peering fearfully into the dark. Was that leopard out there again that night?
As Prater expressed it, “Familiarity with man and his ways make the man-eating panther more to be dreaded than the tiger”. Sterndale talks of a man-eating leopard that held sway over an area 18 miles in diameter and was eventually killed by a native… “but the tale of his victims had swelled to over 200 during the three years of his reign of terror”.
Today the land itches with people. Any leopard that took up man-eating would be despatched to the hereafter swiftly. Perhaps we have shot the man-eating genes out of the leopard already. If leopard-human encounters increase anywhere, then, if a leopard wanders into a house, what would the reason be?
Most likely and simply, encroachment into the leopard’s ever-shrinking domain. If we step deeper and deeper into his territory, elbow in on him, until everywhere he turns he finds humans, he really cannot help encountering us, can he, the poor devil?
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