A nine-year-old female leopard that killed two children within a short span of three days in Bageshwar, has been killed by the forest officials with the help of a private shooter following mounting pressure from the villagers.
The first child aged about six year, was killed by the said leopard at Boar Village of Bageshwar on Thursday evening, while the second child of the same age group was killed by the leopard at nearby Amsarkot Village of the same district around same time on Saturday evening. Though the forest officials concerned were put on high alert soon after occurrence of the first tragic incident, they could eliminate the said leopard only after killing of the second child on Saturday evening.
As soon as the information regarding killing of a second child came in from Amsarkot Village the forest teams accompanied by the private shooter, were rushed to the spot, said Dharam Singh Meena, Divisional Forest Officer, Bageshwar, while talking to The Pioneer.
The team of forests also fired on the said leopard at the incident site and it seems the leopard succumbed to the injuries on the same Saturday night. But the body of the leopard could be recovered only on Sunday morning when a forest official team want there to trace the whereabouts of the leopard, added Meena.
The leopard is aged about nine year. It is a female leopard. There was some problem in the jaws of this big cat. Perhaps on account of this health problem, the leopard had started looking for easy prey like children, added the DFO. It is to note that the said leopard adopted similar tactics in both cases of human tragedy. It lifted the children from the forecourt of their respective houses while they were playing in the evening hours when visibility remains very low.
However, the incidents came to notice only when the family members started searching for their children on their missing from home till late evening. The forest department concerned took the step of killing the leopard only after getting clearance from higher authorities. We have already got the permission from the Chief Wildlife Warden after the killing of the first child.
Subsequently, private shooter lakphal Singh was hired from Gairsain to eliminate the big cat, informed the forest officials concerned. However, efforts are on to prevent such incident of man-animal conflicts in the region, added the officials concerned.