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Bhutan's
Nature - Animals
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Bhutan Nature Animals |
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Bhutan Information |
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Conservation
or livelihood? |
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With
farm animals in Bartsham geog, Trashigang, continuing to fall prey
to the leopard since July 2004, villagers feel that the only way to solve
the problem is to kill it.
But
the leopard is a protected animal and killing it is prohibited by the Forestry
and Nature Conservation Act of 1995. |
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Since
July 2004 the geog has lost 24 horses, mules and jersey cows. The villages
affected are Trashang, Muktangkhar, Mantshang, Jamung and Yingom which
are located near the forest.
"The
villagers see killing the leopard as the only way to save their animals,"
said Bartsham Gup Neten Druba. "The issue has dominated the geog meetings."
Going by the pug marks found near the water sources the villagers are sure
that it was a leopard preying on their animals.
According
to the gup, the leopard always attacked the good breed of animals like
mules, jersey cows and horses, which enraged the villagers. Meme Wangda
who recently lost a mule and a donkey to the leopard said that the money
paid by the government as compensation was less compared to what they paid
when they bought the animals. "Although the compensation for our animals
was recently introduced, it has dropped from what they paid in the beginning,"
said the gup's clerk, Chador Phuntsho.
The
compensation paid for the horses dropped from Nu. 6,000 to Nu. 3,500, and
from Nu. 10,000 to Nu. 7,000 for the mules while the compensation for the
jersey cows remained same at Nu. 7,500.
"We
lose one animal today, we buy another one tomorrow and that too is killed
by the leopard," said Dorjila a farmer from Muktangkhar who lost a jersey
cow. "The problem seems never ending."
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Mules
in Haa
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The
villagers mainly use the mules and horses for carrying goods from one village
to another while the jersey cows give them enough milk from which they
make cheese and butter for sale. "I think it is an old leopard," said Chador
Phuntsho. "Our bjatshas (bulls) are never attacked only the smaller
milking jersey cows and the defenseless mules and horses are killed."
Chador
Phuntsho said the leopard killed the farm animals by puncturing the neck
with its fangs and fed on the body from the lower end. "They only leave
out the intestines, head, skin and the legs of the animals," said Chador
Phuntsho who added that if it had killed a cow, they only got to keep the
legs and the skin. "We consume the legs and save the skin for the tshechu
to make mongnang or kou, a special dish," said Chador Phuntsho.
The
remnants of the mules and horses are normally buried.
According
to the livestock department leopard attacks in villages in Bartsham were
prevalent in the past but were not reported. "Villagers began reporting
the killings only after the compensation scheme was started in January
2004," said a Trashigang livestock official.
Statistics
with the nature conservation division of ministry of agriculture show that
livestock depredation by the common leopard is second only to wild dogs.
| Contributed
by Samten Wangchuk, Kuensel, March 2005 |
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