Dehradun, Nov. 24 -- Many lives are being lost these days in attacks by animals on humans, mostly in the hills of Uttarakhand. People are agitating for measures to be taken by the government and the forest authorities to contain the problem. It is not as if this was not a problem earlier but after the ban on hunting, the people have been rendered helpless and made absolutely dependent on the government for their protection. Also, earlier the villages had a greater number of inhabitants and their activity acted as a deterrent to the proximity of animals. There were some traditional practices also that provided safety for those venturing into forests for fodder, etc.
Now that the number of people living in villages has decreased, the leopard...