A forester was found to have been killed with his body partially consumed by a leopard in the woods on the banks of the Suswa river in Rajaj national park.
While some activists are citing this incident to question whether the leopard caught earlier this month in the region is actually a man-eater as stated by the department, the officials state that the leopard caught in the past had been ascertained to be a man-eater.
Meanwhile, efforts are underway to capture the leopard involved in the latest incident. According to police, on Friday the Motichur range forester Devi Prasad Suyal informed Raiwala police station that forester Anand Singh Panwar had been killed by a leopard in the woods along the Suswa river near the Satyanarayan temple.
Police reached the site and ascertained that the forester had been killed on Thursday night with deep injury also being found on the victim's throat.
The right leg of the forester had also been completely consumed by the big cat. Prima facie it appears as if the leopard dragged Panwar from near the Suswa river bridge and took him to the woods, police stated. Following this incident, animal activists in Haridwar questioned whether the leopard caught by the department from Raiwala area on May 3 two days after a human was killed, is really a man-eater. They alleged that the department had earlier caught a leopard which was not positively identified as a man-eater.
Talking to The Pioneer, the director of Rajaji national park, Sanatan said the department was combing the area where the leopard had killed the forester.
The department would attempt to identify the big cat the tranquilise it. If and when tranquilised, the leopard would be taken to the rescue centre where it would undergo a complete medical examination, he said. Meanwhile, red alert has been sounded in the area and measures have been put in place to prevent any further incidence of human-leopard conflict, said official sources.
Regarding the allegations levelled by activists about the leopard caught previously not being a man-eater, the Rajaji director said scat analysis of the big cat by the Wildlife Institute of India had confirmed that the leopard caught earlier by the department had ingested human parts.
The canines and claws of the big cat caught earlier were also damaged, substantiating grounds for believing it had turned a man-eater, he added.
Regarding the forester being killed at about 8:30 pm on Thursday night, it is being stated by activists that the area he was killed in is part of the Motichur-Gohri corridor frequented by elephants, tigers and leopards among other wildlife.