Authorised hunters are searching for a leopard and two cages have also been placed by the forest department after the animal killed a five-year old girl and injured another child in the villages of Pauri district on Sunday. The chief wildlife warden has declared the leopard a man-eater while the district administration ordered three-day closure of two Government and one public school starting Tuesday in the area.
Residents of Audal and other nearby villages are living in fear of the leopard which is believed to have killed five-year old Gauri on Sunday afternoon at Audal and injured another child at Paukhal situated in Jaiharikhal block under lansdowne forest division in Pauri district.
Taking cognisance of the fear spreading among residents of human-leopard conflict area, the district administration ordered a three-day closure of the government primary school, higher secondary school and one public school in the affected area.
Talking to The Pioneer on Wednesday, the lansdowne divisional forest officer Nitish Mani Tripathi- who is also in the incident area to reconnoitre, said that the range of this leopard is estimated to be about five square kilometer. Four authoritised hunters will be deputed in the area to provide some relief and protection of the people residing in villages of the area, he said.
According to department officials, five-year old girl Gauri was on a visit with her mother Prabha to spend time at her grandmother’s home. She was lifted away by the big cat on Sunday, when she and her sister had gone to place water for the cow about 50 metres away from the home. The family members and other villagers later found her dead body about half a kilometer away from the village. later on Monday the leopard is believed to have injured another child at Paukhal village. Reports of leopard sightings at different locations in the area have been made by villagers in the incident area.
The lansdowne DFO further informed that as a safety measure, one authorised hunter has been deployed in the incident area in addition to two cages set up for trapping the big cat. Additionally, four more authorised hunters are being deputed to kill the leopard declared man eater. The area in question is also being reconnoitered by the department staff in search of the leopard.