Srinagar, Oct. 8 -- Jammu and Kashmir has recorded more than 17,000 human-wildlife conflict incidents in the last five years.

Asiatic black bears and common leopards account for the maximum number of attacks, human injuries and deaths linked to human-wildlife conflict in Jammu and Kashmir, besides causing extensive damage to standing crops and livestock, the Wildlife Protection Department has told the National Green Tribunal (NGT).

The department, in its report submitted to the NGT, identified the two species as the primary drivers of human-wildlife conflict, particularly across the Kashmir Valley and parts of the Jammu region. It described the escalating encounters between people and wild animals as one of the region's most serious con...