Each time the rain ends in Assam, wild animals come out of their dens and into the direct line of fire of their worst enemy — man. Every year, the State Forest Department rescues five or six elephants and leopards in and around Guwahati city, though no reliable data on leopard attacks on human beings or livestock can be found. The leopard-man conflict is mainly confined to the hilly areas. In the past 10 years, more than 50 of these big cats have either been captured or killed in the city.
During the 1960s and the 1970s, leopards and elephants were a common sight in the cities such as Kahilipara, Kharrguli, Santipur, Lal Ganesh, Fatasil, Khanapara, Chandrapur, Hengerabari, Sunsali, Kamakhya and Ramsa in the State. The demographic pattern of Guwahati has changed after the shifting of the capital from Shillong. Increasing human population and unplanned legal and illegal settlements have exerted great pressure on the hills in the city. The Forest Department is under pressure for removal of leopards. Their complaint is that these animals pose a threat to human life and livestock. In reality, the leopards frequent human habitations and prey on domestic animals because the forest cover and their prey base have shrunk.
Guwahati, the gateway to Northeast India, is probably the only city in the country with huge protected areas within its limits — 2,632 hectares. There is an urgent need to protect the forest cover that shelters the big cat.
A seven-year-old female leopard that was rescued at Singimari village on April 15, 2010. Forest officials and villagers believe that the leopard might have come down from the nearby Amsang Reserve Forest in search of prey and fell into an empty water tank while chasing a goat at night.
Behind bars: A leopard growls from inside a house at Rosina village on February 22, 2017. The animal was taken to the zoo and will be set free after it shows good health.
Deep down: Zoo doctors give treatment to a leopard inside an empty water tank at Singimari on April 15, 2010.
To captivity: The female Leopard rescued at Singimari village on the way to the Guwahati
Danger signs: A leopard runs for cover in the Jyotikuchi area of Guwahati city on March 15, 2009. Zoo officials later tranquillised the animal.
A fully grown female leopard floats in a well in at Sonaiguli village in Guwahati on March 28, 2009. The animal was rescued and taken to the city zoo.
Sting in the tail: Villagers try to pull out a tranquillised leopard from the jungles of the Jyotikuchi area in Guwahati on March 15, 2009.
Riding piggyback: A zoo official carries a leopard from an empty water tank at Singimari village on the outskirts of Guwahati on April 15, 2010.