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Gliding in a seamless stride, looking for prey, leopards are now on a perpetual prowl through sugarcane fields to survive in a rapidly urbanising world that is taking up more and more of the forest cover that is their home. This imagery is a common sight in Maharashtra, a state in western India with the third-highest population of the Indian leopard.
The visual of a leopard wading through the sugarcane fields in Maharashtra’s Junnar is a common sight. [Image (c) Wildlife SOS/Akash Dolas]With rapid encroachment of human settlements such as villages and fields into forested areas, incidents of human-leopard conflict in Maharashtra have seen a dramatic rise in the last two decades. In particular, problems related to leopards that have entered fields and human habitation have risen, with the animals wandering out of the shrinking forests as they find their territory and food source depleted. Not long ago, many parts of Maharashtra were once densely populated by…
…The Adaptive Cats
These magnificent spotted felines once roamed the state’s jungles and forests free and wide. The home they always knew, dense with wilderness, has now been invaded by vast fields of sugarcane. Villages and towns have sprung up and leopards suddenly find themselves wandering through crowded streets, straying inside a school or a farm, or falling into a well, several feet deep.
With human encroachment of wild habitats, comes the issue of wells fragmenting the forests, where leopards and other animals reside. [Image (c) Wildlife SOS/Akash Dolas]The plague of gaping wells has affected not just leopards, but other animals such as small and big mammals, and even snakes. However, leopards show a one-of-a-kind resilience that still makes the city of Junnar a place with a healthy wild leopard population. But…
…The Problem Runs Deep
These wells, ranging from 30 to 100 feet deep, can turn into death traps for wild animals. The villages of rural Maharashtra are perforated with these wells, with 30-50 of them present in each village. Most of the time the animals, mostly nocturnal ones, are unaware that a hole exists in the ground. They might be foraging at night or running across the landscape when they simply fall into one.
Open wells are a downside of human encroachment, and leopards of Maharashtra face difficulty overcoming this hurdle. These wells are extremely important and act as a water source for the villagers residing in the forest fringes. However, the numerous wells present across the landscape are a threat to the leopards, nilgai (antelopes), sambar (deer), chinkara, striped hyenas and golden jackals that are also found here.
The open wells, ranging from 30 to 100 feet deep, can turn into death traps for wild animals and they can drown, if not saved in time. [Image (c) Wildlife SOS/Akash Dolas]There’s a myriad of negative impacts that wild animals can face after falling in these wells. If they fall into dry wells, they either die instantly or suffer lingering deaths if not rescued. Those falling inside water-filled wells may experience grievous injuries, exhaustion and dehydration. If not rescued, they can drown. Open wells have therefore become a threatening part of forests in the state of Maharashtra. In order to mitigate this complex conundrum, Wildlife SOS created a solution.
Covering Open Wells…
… and conducting awareness sessions on a mass scale have dropped the fateful incidences of leopards falling inside open wells drastically. Cases of animals falling inside wells – registered in the past year in Junnar region – have reduced to a large extent. Following the success of this dual approach, Wildlife SOS, in collaboration with the Maharashtra forest department, and under the guidance of the Junnar Forest Division, covered five new wells in Junnar’s Hivare Narayangaon, Warulwadi, Pimpari Pendhar, Nimgaon Sawa and Ane. With these five, the total number of covered wells now stands at 19.
This well in Warulwadi is one among the 5 new wells covered. [Image (c) Wildlife SOS/Akash Dolas]Working on its Open Wells Conservation Project, the team conducted a field study, speaking with well owners to identify locations where falls frequently occur. The observations revealed that most leopards fall into wells while hunting. Of these, 90% of the leopards were found to have fallen while chasing domestic animals such as dogs, cats, goats and cows. In the rural areas, these domestic animals are left outside, following which leopards come near the houses to hunt during the evening time. In the process of chasing its prey, the leopard ends up falling inside the open well.
A work-in-progress well, preparing to be covered in Pimpari Pendhar. [Image (c) Wildlife SOS/Akash Dolas]The process of covering an open well is not easy, and rather a long-drawn one. Covering one well involves multiples steps, starting with procuring the permission of the local villagers, getting their consent and finally implementing it. Over the past two years, we have conducted awareness campaigns in high-risk areas, educating local people, including school children. In various schools, the team educated students about wild animals through outreach programmes and advised the residents to not let their pets roam outside at night and keep them in enclosed spaces instead.
This, and the covering of open wells, have had a significant positive impact, as the number of leopard incidents falling into wells has drastically decreased over the past year. The most important information gathered while working on this project is that if farmers keep their domestic animals enclosed at night, nearly 95% of incidents of leopards falling into wells can be reduced.
Our team has successfully completed covering a total of 19 open wells in Maharashtra. [Image (c) Wildlife SOS/Akash Dolas]Besides rescuing and preventing leopards and other wild animals from falling inside wells, the Open Wells Conservation Project is directly tackling the root cause of the problem – the wells. With the help of the forest department, our team will continue covering wells to eliminate all possibilities of wild animal mortality. However, covering each well is a resource-intensive task and requires all possible assistance. Therefore, you can play your part by contributing toward the project and ensure that wild animals don’t become a victim by falling in these wells.
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