Karnataka govt to setup leopard task force
The chief minister conducted a meeting via video conference with Mysuru revenue, forest officers and secretaries of both departments on Tuesday following the increasing leopard menace in T Narasipura taluk in the district.
The Karnataka government is planning to set up a leopard task force to check the menace of the big cat, which claimed four lives in T Narasipura taluk in Mysuru in the last three months, officials close to developments said on Wednesday.
The decision comes after chief minister Basavaraj Bommai instructed officers to set up a task force on the lines of an elephant task force in the state.
The chief minister conducted a meeting via video conference with Mysuru revenue, forest officers and secretaries of both departments on Tuesday following the increasing leopard menace in T Narasipura taluk in the district.
During the meeting, Bommai expressed concern over the rise of deaths and instructed officials to use police force in the combing operation. Forest officers informed that a total of 110 personnel participated in the combing operation to catch the big cat after it claimed the life of a 60-year-old woman and an 11-year-old boy.
“We are waiting for the orders from the state government to constitute a leopard task force as instructed by CM Bommai. The PCCF has to issue the orders,” Mysuru circle chief conservator of forests Dr Malathi Priya said.
“We have discussed with revenue and police officers. All three department officials will be included in the task force for effective work and coordination. The standing sugarcane crops are the main hindrance to the combing operation,” she added.
She said more than 70 trap cameras and 18 cages, including a Tumkur cage, were installed in various locations to catch the big cat. On Tuesday night, a leopard was trapped in a camera in Horanahalli where it killed an 11-year-old boy. We are also using thermal cameras and would catch the big cat soon, she said.
On October 31, 2022, Manjunath (20), a second-year student from Maharaja College, Mysuru, was killed by a leopard at Madgar Lingayyanahundi village. He was returning home with his friends from Muddumaramma temple. Despite Manjunath’s friends raising an alarm, the leopard killed him before villagers rushed to the spot.
On December 2, 2022, Meghana (22) was killed by a leopard at S Kebbehundi village. The incident occurred at 6.30 pm when Meghana went to wash clothes in her backyard. Enraged villagers staged protests in front of T Narasipura Taluk hospital till late at night and refused to take the dead body. Later, the officers caught the leopard and sent it back to Bannerghatta biological park.
On January 20, a 60-year-old woman Siddamma in Kannayakanahalli in T Narasipura taluk succumbed to a leopard attack. On January 21, Jayanth, an 11-year-old boy in Horanahalli in T Narasipura Taluk, was killed by a leopard.
The leopard menace has created panic among 21 villages in T Narasipura taluk. The Mysuru district administration instructed farmers to harvest sugarcane crops within the next 15 days to enable forest officers to catch the big cat. The forest department also issued instructions to villagers not to come out of their houses after 6 pm.