To control the population ofleopards and prevent incidents of man-animal conflict in Gujarat, the state government has sought the Centre's permission for sterilising leopards, the legislative Assembly was informed on Thursday.While a proposal seeking permission to sterilise leopards was sought in December 2019, the state government is yet to receive the nod from the Centre, Forest Minister Ganpat Vasava informed the house during the Question Hour.Notably, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, during the 18th State Wildlife Board (SWB) meeting held in December last year, had asked officials to initiate process of acquiring necessary permissions from the Central government to sterilise leopards.The announcement came a day after a leopard was shot dead by a forest department guard in Amreli district after two people were killed by the big cat.On Thursday, Vasava informed the house said there are 1,395 leopards in the state as per the 2016 census.In 2019, as many as 442 leopards were captured from different parts of the state, he said.While 360 of them were released in the wild, 82 leopards remained in captivity for being 'man eaters', said the forest minister.
