Leopard in the Neighbourhood

By Jessica Goel, Richard Kujur

Sarveshwar Prasad?s family is among the very few people in his village in northern India?s Uttarakhand state who have not migrated away out of fear of leopards. These wild cats are often seen wandering in residential areas in the state?s Pauri Garhwal district and sometimes mauling humans, even to death. Called Noliyo and situated in the Garhwal Himalayas, the village now looks deserted, even as the remaining few families are also planning to move out. The human-wildlife conflict caries on amid what appears to be the government?s neglect of the residents’ plight.