The leopard declared man eater in Ekeshwar block of Pauri Garhwal district was killed by an authorised hunter at the same place where the cat had killed an eight-year old boy on the night of June 9. The leopard was shot dead on Friday night.The Ekeshwar block in the Pauri district has become notorious for continuing human-leopard conflict with more than a dozen persons being killed in leopard attacks since 2012.The latest victim of the leopard was eight-years old Rohit, a resident of Sukanda village in Ekeshwar block.
The continued human-animal conflict is leaving the people of most of the mountain district of the Garhwal region in a state of anxiety. Apart from the human-leopard conflict in Pauri, a girl was also killed by a big cat in the Faleda village in Bhilangna block of Tehri district. The Forest department has authorised hunters to shoot this leopard which was reportedly sighted again on Saturday.Meanwhile, the leopard believed to be responsible for killing a boy in Pauri was declared a man-eater by the chief wildlife warden on June 16. The hunter authorised by the department killed a big cat measuring seven feet long from tail to nose on Friday night.
It should be mentioned here that even though hunting wild life is illegal, poaching appears to be affecting the prey base of the big cat. With deer, wild boar and other wildlife preferred by the leopard being poached by humans, the big cats are turning towards human settlements in search of easy prey like dogs and other domestic animals.Divisional Forest Officer Garhwal division Rajmani Pandey said the big cat moving to villages often used bushes nearby the homes to lay in ambush or hide. leopard attacks could be mitigated by clearing such bushes, he added.