The Kalagarh Tiger Reserve has recommended to the chief wildlife warden that a leopard be declared man-eater after it killed a child in the Bageda village in Adnala range of KTR on Wednesday evening. In the meanwhile, the department has deployed its teams and started clearing the lantana bushes in the area to reduce the places where a leopard might hide while stalking humans or domesticated animals.
On Wednesday evening, a six-year-old girl and her mother were walking a calf along with a dog to the cowshed when a leopard attacked the child. The spotted cat carried the girl into the woods from where the body was recovered at night after forest department staff reached the site.
Talking to The Pioneer, the Kalagarh Tiger Reserve divisional forest officer Amit Verma said that a recommendation had been sent to the chief wildlife warden for declaring the spotted feline a man-eater. “We have deployed our staff in teams at the village and have also started work on clearing the lantana bushes in the area so that a big cat does not use the bushes to hide while preying on humans or cattle. While our teams have also been deployed in the area with arms, cages have also been placed in an attempt to capture the big cat. We have also requested the Pauri district magistrate to facilitate the installation of street lights at the site because the lack of light works in the favour of leopards,” said Verma.
With Friday being a holiday on account of Good Friday it is expected that the chief wildlife warden may declare the leopard a man-eater on Saturday. About a fortnight ago, a child was killed by a leopard in a village about eight kilometres from Bageda village. Villagers in the region and some public representatives are demanding extreme and timely action against the leopard.
It is worth mentioning here that though the forest department takes steps to resolve conflict situations following the death or injury of humans or cattle in leopard attacks, the department officials also acknowledge the need for protecting the leopard with about 50 leopard deaths (including pelt and body part seizures) being reported so far this year.