[Watch] Man-Animal Conflict: Odisha IFS Officer Shares Clip To Illustrate A Key Behaviour Of Animals

Bhubaneswar: Incidents of man-animal conflict have become frequent in recent years. Just the other day, two persons were trampled to death by an elephant which strayed into Nimapur in Jagatpur area of Odisha’s Cuttack district. The elephant strayed into Nimapur from Athagarh Forest Division, going on a rampage, damaging vehicles and houses.

Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer Susanta Nanda, however, shared a video on Twitter on Thursday to highlight a key behaviour of animals: they try to avoid contact with humans unless necessary.

Recorded by a CCTV camera installed at a house, the video shows a mountain lion hiding in the bushes outside the house as a jogger passes by. As the woman jogger comes near, the lion, strolling in front of the house, hides quietly in the bushes. The location of the video is not mentioned.

“Wild animals will avoid conflict with humans in a majority of situations. They react only when threatened. Interesting video of a mountain lion watching the runner after getting totally camouflaged to avoid conflict,” Nanda captioned the clip.

Nanda, a 1989-batch IFS officer from Odisha, was recently appointed as Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF), Nodal, with the additional charge of Chief Executive, Chilika Development Authority, and Project Director, Integrated Coastal Zone Management Project.