Environmentalists questions forest dept's move to kill pregnant leopard

Environmentalists have questioned the Forest Department for killing a pregnant leopardess declared man-eater without identification in stead of first trying to tranquilise and capture the big cat.Stating that the leopardess was not even identified and was not a man-eater, People For Animals has stated that it is determined to take the Dehradun divisional forest officer to the High Court for not trying to tranquilise the big cat and capture it first.

It will be recalled that a teenager had died following a leopard attack in the Forest Research Institute on Saturday after which the big cat was declared a man-eater and a team of authorised hunters reached the site on Sunday.  A cage with bait was placed in the area apart from a second bait in the open. The hunters shot a leopardess on Monday night and recovered her body on Tuesday. 

According to PFA Uttarakhand member secretary Gauri Maulekhi, “The post mortem examination of the leopardess revealed that she was carrying three unborn cubs and there were no human remains found in her stomach. The department had not identified any leopard as a man-eater but used a bait to attract a leopard which was shot. No attempt was made to first tranquilise and capture the big cat to relocate it away from human settlement. We are determined to approach the High Court against the Dehradun DFO Sushant Patnaik not only regarding this case but also for anomalies in his actions in other cases in the past,” she said.