Mysores leopards to be sterilised?

MYSORE: With public uproar growing over controlling the leopard population in and around Mysore, the forest department, in its bid to curb the increasing instances of man-animal conflict, has decided to seek public opinion on sterilising male leopards.Deputy Conservator of Forests of Mysore Division Manoj Kumar said that there are plans to conduct vasectomy for male leopards trapped in and around Mysore. “If the leopards are let into the forest, they will return to the city and create panic. Hence, the department is inviting public opinion on the issue,” he said, while speaking on the sidelines of a function here on Thursday.Kumar detailed that the department has invited public opinion after forest department officials get hauled up whenver there is a man-animal conflict. “Let opinion be elicited from all societal sections.”The DCF elucidated that assessing the leopard population was a difficult task and that the felines enter the city limits to hunt street dogs - their main source of food. If there are no street dogs, they will try to catch pet dogs, he said, adding that leopards near residential areas hunt between 1 and 4 am. Meanwhile, a leopard killed a cow and a sheep at Halepura and Thippur villages in Hunsur taluk on Wednesday. Villagers claim to have sighted a leopard and two cubs near the village.