Since a leopard killed a three-year-old child in the Devrana village on the evening of Republic Day, the people of this village and other hamlets in the Yamkeshwar block of the Pauri district are reported to be living in fear of the big cat.
It should be mentioned here that in view of the order of the High Court of Uttarakhand in Nainital, some restraint is being observed in the declaration of big cats as man-eaters. Now, the chief wildlife warden alone cannot declare a big cat a man-eater for the time being with a tw0-member committee comprising principal secretary and principal chief conservator of forests allocated the task of reviewing particular cases for consideration before any big cat is declared a man-eater.
The lansdowne divisional forest officer Mayank Shekhar Jha told The Pioneer that after the incident of the girl being killed by a leopard in Devrana village, detailed information was given to the chief wild life warden and permission was also sought for setting up cage in the area in order to attempt to trap the leopard in the area of the incident.
He said that one cage has already been installed in the area with permission being sought for placing a second cage. In addition this, a five-member team of the forest department has been deployed in the area and told to remain there till further orders. The DFO further said that he had visited the human-leopard conflict area in Yamkeshwar, explaining reasons for the big cat not being declared a man-eater while also assuring the villagers that the all possible measures will be taken to ensure the safety of the people.
It is pertinent to mention here that the killing of the child in Yamkeshwar is the fourth such incident in the period of about one and half years. In the latest incident, a three-year old child was carried away from the premises of his house in Devrani village on the evening of Republic Day in front of his parents.
The child was playing one minute and the other instance he was carried away by the leopard which ran away towards the forest. The villagers formed groups and went in search of the child, but the body could not be traced at that time.
The Gram Pradhan informed the forest range officer about the child being killed by a leopard and the lansdowne divisional forest officer. The officers and forest team reached the site of the incident late in the night and a search operation was conducted to find the missing child. However, the effort did not yield result at night and the morning of the next day brought with it the discovery of the partially eaten body of the child about half a kilometer from his home.
Observers point out that though declaration of a leopard a man-eater and killing it had become the normal process seen after any human-leopard conflict incident -- even in cases in which the humans appear to be at fault—the authorities and society will have to work out a long term solution to the problem and enhance protection of both human and wildlife without further delay.