The death of a 12-year-old boy in a leopard attack in Marsary, Kupwara, has once again brought the growing human-wildlife conflict in Kashmir valley into focus. Ayan Ashraf was attacked during the intervening night of Sunday and Monday and later succumbed to injuries. His body was recovered by locals from a nearby forest area. The tragedy is particularly disturbing because it comes barely weeks after other serious leopard incidents involving children across the Valley. The recent pattern is difficult to ignore. On September 7, a five-year-old girl, Adda Yasir Mir, was killed by a leopard in the Ompora area of Budgam, with parts of her body later recovered from a dense nursery. In July, a six-year-old girl was injured after a leopard entered a residential house in Keller, Shopian. Just days before the latest Kupwara tragedy, a 10-year-old girl was injured in a leopard attack near her home in the Bijbehara area of Anantnag. These are not isolated incidents and keep on happening in the Valley. Research published in Oryx in 2026 provides further perspective. Examining 424 leopard attacks in Kashmir between 2006 and 2023, researchers found that people below 20 accounted for 38.4% of attacks for which age was recorded but 81.1% of the 53 fatalities. The study also found that attacks on children during evening hours were more likely to be predatory. It recommends stronger community outreach and particular vigilance around children during periods when leopards are likely to be hunting. The response, therefore, cannot begin and end with action after an attack. By then, a family has already suffered an irreversible loss. Areas reporting repeated sightings or attacks need rapid-response teams, systematic surveillance, adequate trapping equipment and clearly defined protocols for dealing with conflict animals. Emergency control rooms and helplines can help, but they must be backed by personnel capable of reaching vulnerable settlements quickly. Equally important is prevention. Communities living close to forests, orchards and scrubland need regular awareness programmes. Children should be taught basic safety measures, particularly during early morning and evening hours. Schools in vulnerable areas can play an important role by incorporating wildlife-safety guidance. Local residents should also know whom to contact when a leopard is repeatedly sighted and should avoid crowding or provoking the wild animal. At the same time, it is important to understand that leopards are an important part of Kashmir’s ecosystem. The challenge is to protect both wildlife and people through better habitat management, scientific monitoring, responsible waste and livestock management, and timely intervention when individual animals repeatedly enter human settlements. Every attack should generate a serious assessment of what happened, whether warnings were issued, how quickly authorities responded and what measures could prevent another tragedy. Kashmir cannot afford a cycle in which each death produces grief, protests and assurances, only for attention to fade. Protecting wildlife is important, but protecting communities living alongside that wildlife is equally essential. The goal must be a system that acts before the next child becomes a statistic.
Challenge of Coexistence
