Guj to hold wildlife week to avoid man-animal conflict

Gandhinagar: To avoid the conflicts between human and wildlife, Gujarat government will observe a wildlife week in the state. The celebrations will be held between October 2 and 8 across 1200 venues, crisscrossing the state and as many as 18 to 20 lakh people are expected to attend these programmes.

The incident of clash between human with sloth bear in Jesor sanctuary in North Gujarat was reported in March this year. The issue raised the eyebrows of the wildlife activists across the nation. The government has precisely held programmes to create awareness at places where such incidents are frequent.

The forest department informed about the celebration of wildlife week through a release issued on Friday.The department informed that the special weight will be given to the issue of clashes or conflicts between wildlife and human nearby the sanctuary areas.

As many as eight workshops have been organised at different places where the wildlife can be affected badly due to routine activities by humans.

The workshop for sloth bears will be held at Jesor sanctuary, for cranes and vultures in Gandhinagar, for great Indian bustard in Bhuj, for alligators in Vadodara, for the wolf in Junagadh, for Dugong in Meethapur near Dwarka and for leopards and panthers at Ratanmahal Sanctuary.

The state government has prepared films and different presentations to attract the youth for sensitisation towards wildlife. The government will also appeal the cinema halls in cities to arrange shows of such films.

There will be competitions of essay writing, picture and photographs, slogan writings, drawing and scratches and of that kind to attract the stakeholders. The government will also give prizes to winners of these competitions.