In 2017, Titli Trust began working with Tehri Forest Division to arm the local community — with knowledge — through a program named Living with Leopards (豹). The forest officials made a study trip to Mumbai to learn from their experiences there.
"Our Mumbai trip has taught us that we need to change the focus from leopards to people," says Dr Koko Rose from the Tehri Forest Division. This meant reaching out to villagers to share measures they could take to minimize (最小化) the chances of meeting a leopard or being attacked. They include clearing bushes around homes to minimize hiding spaces for leopards, leaving a light on at night, and ensuring people, especially children, did not go out alone at night. The strategies are carefully aimed at a leopard's known habits: they are shy, tend to avoid human beings, and are more active at night.
Forest officials also went to schools and launched a children's ambassador program, where children dressed up as leopards and performed for their parents in order to create more understanding of why leopards come near their homes, and how to stay safe.
These efforts seemed effective. In the four years before the program started, there were 45 cases of human-leopard conflict in the Tehri area, among them 10 human deaths. Now, the number went down to 14 and four human deaths. "Our ancestors tell us how they have lived in the forests, grazed (放牧) the animals in the forests, but the leopard has never attacked them," says Meena, a local villager, "So we too can live with leopards, if we remain watchful and follow the rules."
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