kolhapur last year two deaths occurred due to attacks by wild animals in kolhapur district with zero such deaths seen in the previous two years the records reflected in the written reply of state minister of forest sudhir mungantiwar in the ongoing state legislature session after congress member of legislative council mlc satej patil raised a query in this regard data also showed that in 2019 and 2021 one person each was injured while in 2020 none were harmed by wild animals patil and other mlcs raised this question stating that attacks by wild animals are on the rise the district is flanked by the western ghats and is considered a major corridor for migrating animals and also for sanctuaries such as of the indian bison or gaur in radhanagari forests according to the reply in 2022 a man from bhudargad died in an attack by a gaur in may while a woman died of a leopard attack in december in the earlier cases injured persons were left with physical disabilities the reply by the minister added that the injured and the kin of the deceased are given compensation as per existing rules responding on measures adopted to avoid humananimal conflict mungantiwar stated daynight patrolling of forest areas is being carried out to trace movements of wild animals special teams have been formed to chase wild animals back into forest areas to ensure that they do not leave the forest in search of food and water we have started work to make water ponds available to them and increase the area under grasslands the forest department also provides compensation for loss of crops due to movement by wild animals said the reply mlc patil said we had raised the concern that there are delays in adopting measures required to stop wild animal attacks but the minister has stated that there is no such delay we hope more measures are adopted to ensure that residents from forest and nearby areas live in a safe environment