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4-year-old boy killed in leopard attack in Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary
While a minor boy was killed by a leopard, the forest officials captured a leopard in Dudhwa buffer zone
A tragic incident unfolded on Friday in Bajpur Bankati village, adjacent to the Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary (KWS), when a leopard attacked and killed a four-year-old boy. The child, Abhinandan, had accompanied his mother, Seema, and uncle to their sugarcane farm near the village when the leopard attacked him.
Abhinandan’s father Sandeep Kumar owns a sugarcane field adjacent to their house. As the family members and workers were busy in the fields, a leopard that sneaked from the KWS attacked Abhinandan. Family members and locals raised an alarm and rushed towards the big cat. Seeing the mob, the leopard fled towards the Saryu canal leaving the injured boy in the sugarcane field.
The family immediately rushed Abhinandan to the Primary Health Center (PHC) Sujauli. Despite the efforts of the medical staff, the boy succumbed to his injuries.
SHO Sujauli Harish Singh said the body of the boy has been sent for a post-mortem examination. He said people have been asked to be vigilant while working in the fields.
The incident caused immense grief and panic in the village while Abhinandan’s parents collapsed in shock. Villagers demanded immediate action from authorities. Police sub-inspectors Ramashankar Yadav and Afzal, along with a forest department team, reached the scene to investigate the incident.
Forest officials, including forest range officer (FRO) Katarniaghat Ashish Gond and forest guard Abdul Salam reached the spot and began assessing the situation. The RFO has provided immediate assistance of Rs. five thousand to the family of the deceased child. Dabeer Hasan, executive officer of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) while talking to HT said an assistance of ₹ten thousand would also be provided after the request letter from the forest department is received. Villagers have urged the forest department to install a cage and intensify patrolling in the area to prevent further attacks.
Leopard captured in Dudhwa buffer zone
After capturing a male tiger from Majhgain range on Wednesday, Dudhwa buffer zone forest officials on Friday captured a sub-adult leopard from near Munshigarh village under the same Majhgain range in Lakhimpur Kheri on Friday.
The captured leopard was reported to have attacked and caused injuries to a few persons a few days back, following which the forest authorities had intensified patrolling in the area and set up cages with baits to lure the big cat into it.
Deputy director, Dudhwa buffer zone Saureesh Sahay told Hindustan Times that on Friday, a leopard was captured in the cage which had been placed near Chakhra cow-shelter.
Sahay added that the captured leopard had been carried to Majhgain forest range headquarters for proper physical examination by experts and further proceedings.
He said the initial examination revealed the leopard to be a sub-adult male of about two to three years of age.
On Wednesday morning, Dudhwa buffer zone officials had captured a male tiger from near Chaukhra farmhouse following a human casualty caused by it on October 28.
Sahay said the tiger was released back into the forests of Katarniaghat wildlife sanctuary on Friday as per directives from the senior forest authorities.
Notably enough, with the start of harvesting of cane crops, sighting of big cats and their movements have become a routine feature among the areas close to reserved forest areas.
Recent sightings of tigers with their cubs in the sugarcane fields indicate that the big cats have taken the sugarcane crops near reserved forest areas as their permanent homes, leading to their encounters with human population.
