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Leopard declared as man-eater after two women killed in Nainital
The Uttarakhand forest department has deployed four cages, 10 camera traps and 75 forest personnel in the operation to eliminate the man-eater leopard
The Uttarakhand forest department has declared a leopard as a man-eater after the animal killed two women in Nainital district last week, officials said on Tuesday. The department has also roped in hunters to eliminate the leopard, they added..
According to forest officials, on December 7, the leopard killed Indra Devi, a resident of Maluwatal in Nainital district. Two days later, on December 9, Pushpa Devi, a 38-year-old resident of Pinrau village, who was cutting grass in the field near her house, was also killed in a leopard attack while another woman, 28-year-old Urmila Devi was injured in the attack.
Angered by this, the villagers demanded that the leopard be declared a man-eater and eliminated. Angry villagers also gheraoed Nainital DFO Chandrashekhar Joshi’s office. On Monday, the forest department declared the leopard maneater and issued orders to kill it.
Chandrashekhar Joshi, divisional forest officer (DFO) of Nainital forest division said, “The leopard which was creating terror in Maluvatal and Pinarau villages has been declared maneater. Forest teams under the leadership of veterinarian Dr. Himanshu Pangti are patrolling the area. Hunters Harish Dhami and Vipin Chandra have arrived to eliminate the leopard.”
“Four cages, 10 camera traps, 75 forest personnel have been deployed in this operation to eliminate the problematic leopard,” he said.
He said, “Apart from this, forest teams have been deployed in Hairakhan and Dhungshil areas also. SDRF (State Disaster Response Force) team has also been deployed in the area.”
He further said, “Patrolling is being done in half a dozen villages including Pinero, Maluvatal. Villagers are also forming groups and helping us in patrolling.”
The movement of single devotees has been banned to Chhota Kailash temple. Citing security, the forest department and administration have appealed to the devotees not to come to the temple for a few days, said officials.
Pramod Kumar, sub-district magistrate of Nainital said, “There is a ban on a single person going to the temple. There is no restriction if devotees go in groups.”
Over 450 people have been killed in leopard attacks in the state since the state was formed in 2000. Human deaths in leopard attacks account for nearly half of the total deaths due to wild animals in the state, according to the data of the state forest department. According to wildlife experts, there are many factors due to which it has been difficult to check man-leopard conflict in the state, be it the hilly terrain which provides ample space for leopards to hide to human settlements scattered in hills overlapping with the leopard territories.
In May last year, angry villagers burnt alive a leopard in Pauri district after the leopard killed a woman. In March 2011, angry villagers had burnt alive a leopard in the same district. The leopard had attacked ten people in the area. In June 2018, angry villagers also set a forest on fire in Bageshwar district after a 7-year-old boy was killed by a leopard.
