Hunter claims to have shot maneater of Uttarakhand

The killer leopard of Uttarakhand was gunned down within hours he was declared maneater, the hunter claimed on Thursday.

The killer leopard of Uttarakhand was gunned down within hours he was declared maneater, the hunter claimed on Thursday.

Joy-Hukil-extreme-left-with-the-slain-leopard-at-Masaun-Dhar-on-Wednesday-Arvind-Moudgil-HT-Photo

It measures 7.5 feet in length and has a damaged canine, hunter Joy Hukil said, adding the description matched the one given to him by the forest officials and the villagers.

The leopard had become a cause of fear for the villagers in the Pauri region for past one month. It had killed a 10-year-old boy, Anand Bahadur, of village Masaun Talla, about 7 km from Pauri on October 26, besides attacking three other children in the region.

Subsequently, chief wildlife warden DBS Khati declared the leopard maneater on Wednesday and asked the forest officials to neutralise the threat .

The forest officials soon set up a cage and put hunter Joy Hukil on the job. Hukil said he killed the leopard at around 11pm on Wednesday after it was found lurking near the village.

Former Pauri zila panchayat chief Kesar Singh Negi has asked the forest officials not to remove the cage and the hunter from the village as they feared presence of more leopards in the region.

DFO Raj Mani Pandey confirmed that the villagers were still scared.