The leopard which had killed a teenager in the Chandmari area near the VVIP area housing the Raj Bhawan and CM residence, was sighted on Monday. Forest department teams are regularly patrolling the area and trying to track the big cat which will be tranquilised and captured to remove the threat being faced by the people in this area.
It will be recalled that a girl had been attacked by a leopard in the Chandmari area on October 24 when she had gone to the woods to collect fodder. The girl died from her injuries, a few days after which a motorcyclist was also confronted by a leopard in the same area. According to the Dehradun sub divisional officer IA Siddiqui, the leopard suspected of the attacks on humans was sighted in the Nagnath area on Monday.
“Our teams have been deployed in the area where they are undertaking regular patrolling in the area. We are trying to track the big cat from its pug marks and sightings. Reports of the leopard being sighted are being acted upon by our personnel who are also equipped with a tranquiliser gun to immobilise the spotted cat for capture. Three cages have also been placed in the area in order to trap this leopard,” added the SDO.
It is pertinent to mention here that rising population and the expansion of human habitation along with decrease in tree cover is causing the big cats to change their movements. Department officials point out that leopards have been living in the region for long but the increasing human population and expanding settlements have increased the incidents of human-leopard conflict in this region.
Cases of leopards entering human settlements and entering into conflict with humans in recent year have been experienced in the Hathibarkala campus of the Survey of India, Forest Research Institute, Indian Military Academy and the Wildlife Institute of India. While the locals blame the forest department for the rising cases of human-leopard conflict, observers point out that even though the department may not be acting as efficiently as desired, the conflict scenario is inevitable considering the rising human population and correspondingly decreasing tree cover.