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Amidst man-animal conflict, forest teams cage five leopards in Bijnor in a week
A total of 12 teams, consisting of forest officials, workers, wildlife experts, and veterinary doctors, are conducting a search across more than 22 villages in the district to neutralize leopards responsible for 13 human deaths over the last seven months.
MEERUT In a significant breakthrough, forest department teams caged five leopards across different areas of Bijnor district in the past one week. During a rescue operation in Mahada village, Dhampur area, on Sunday night, a forest department employee was injured in a leopard attack.
A total of 12 teams, consisting of forest officials, workers, wildlife experts, and veterinary doctors, are conducting a search across more than 22 villages in the district to neutralize leopards responsible for 13 human deaths over the last seven months.
Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (Wildlife), Anjani Acharya, personally visited the affected areas on Sunday to assess the search operation alongside other senior officials.
Ramesh Chandra, Chief Conservator of Moradabad division, said that five leopards were successfully rescued from different locations: Sadakpur village in Rehad area, Sherkot, Aaraji Kandla village in Sherkot, Mohda village in Dhampur area, and Mahsanpur village in Rehad area.
In the most recent incident on Sunday night, teams swiftly moved to Mohda village in Dhampur area. They strategically blocked the leopard’s escape route with nets on both ends of an alley. Unfortunately, in the process, the leopard became agitated by villagers throwing stones and charged at a forest worker who was securing the nets.
The worker sustained injuries to his hands and other parts of his body, prompting immediate hospitalisation. He suggested that the leopard captured in Mahsanpur village on Sunday could be the culprit behind the killing of a child in the village jungle on June 22.
PCCF Anjani Acharya reviewed all the rescued animals and interacted with the officials. Chandra revealed that, similar to past cases, these five leopards would be relocated to zoos in Lucknow, Kanpur, Gorakhpur, and the Etawah Safari, rather than being released back into the jungle.
Over the past seven months, the forest department has successfully rescued 19 animals in the district. While more than a dozen animals were initially released into the Amangarh Tiger Reserve, subsequent incidents of them venturing out in search of food and attacking people led to the decision to house all rescued animals in zoos.
