International Leopard Day was celebrated by the Forest Department here on Friday with an awareness programme in villages that were rocked by a series of conflict situation last year.
The Mysuru Territorial Forest Division conducted awareness drive near Ukkalakere Mallikarjuna Swamy Betta in T.Narsipur taluk.
K.N. Basavaraj, Deputy Conservator of Forests, N. Lakshmikanth, Assistant Conservator of Forests and resource person Nanjaraj Urs interacted with the local community. He apprised them of leopard behaviour and the measures to be taken to minimise conflict situation.
T. Narsipur taluk was rocked by a series of human-leopard conflicts in which four persons lost their lives in 3 months last year. People of Kehuura, Ukkalagere, Kallipura etc attended the awareness camp.
Members of the Leopard Task Force fanned out to various villages and distributed pamphlets replete with information on leopard behaviour, dos and don’ts besides providing the public with helpline number to call for any assistance.
There was also a quiz contest for school children besides painting contest.
The authorities said International Leopard Day is celebrated on May 3 and the genesis of this day was traced to the virtual event - Global Leopard Conference - held in March 2023 which saw hundreds of researchers, scholars, conservationists, etc., focussing on conservation and discussing issues that threaten the existence of Panthera pardus, the leopard. “As a lasting legacy of the conference International Leopard Day was officially endorsed and it was decided to celebrate it on May 3 of every year,” said Mr. Basavaraj.
