The principal chief conservator of forests and chief wildlife warden Jharkhand Shashikar Samanta has taken wind out of the sail of those pseudo environmentalists who were lying low to sprint if the aberrant leopard in Garhwa district would be killed.
Some of them have even shot off missives here and there seeking support for putting a stop to hunt the leopard in Garhwa district.
Facts and circumstances about the leopard menace and casualties caused by it between December 14 and 28 in which three children two of them boys all minors and one of the boys even half eaten by the leopard, were either understated or the colossal human tragedy was downplayed by the sympathisers of the leopard.
There is no guarantee that Sanjay Dubri tiger reserve team will be able to do a miracle to happen here in the context of the leopard but its arrival and efforts here will help silence all those elements sharpening their knives to cut the state wildlife management into two halves.
Sources said it is a last ditch effort to handle the leopard or it may be seen as antepenultimate task as the Garhwa forest administration is precariously on a tightrope walk as if the leopard is killed then all hell is surer to fall or if the leopard kills humans then too there will be a bedlam on the streets of Garhwa.
The office order of the principal chief conservator of forests and chief wild life warden Jharkhand Shashikar Samanta to kill or wound this leopard is valid upto only January 31and so it is a race against time.
The chief wild life warden Jharkhand Shashikar Samanta is trying to use all available resources to contain and restrict this man killing and man eating leopard in Garhwa district jungles.
There is already a highly reputed and experienced team led by man animal conflict expert of Hyderabad Nawab Shafath Ali Khan, now joined by his son Asghar Ali Khan who arrived at Garhwa only on Friday by first air dashing to Ranchi.
And now this team of the Sanjay Dubri tiger reserve of Madhya Pradesh due to arrive here in Garhwa district on Sunday for the effective containment and control of the aberrant leopard by just tempting it to walk into the automatic cage is another tactical move to hold the leopard alive.
Official request has reached the Madhya Pradesh based Sanjay Dubri tiger reserve to send its team which had quite recently encaged a man eater leopard there which here in the jungles of Garhwa district the leopard is bypassing the cages set up for it.
Regional chief conservator of forests Palamu Kumar Ashutosh said that he had spoken to the field director of Sanjay Dubri tiger reserve in Madhya Pradesh Amit Dubey officially requesting him to send his team here to help or assist in drawing the lone adult leopard in the jungles of Garhwa district to walk in to any of the 4 automatic cages which this wild but wise animal has been dodging for more than a month since its last kill and devouring of human flesh on December 14 when the Garhwa forest administration borrowed one automatic cage from the tiger reserve Palamu.
Bastua range officer of the Sanjay Dubri tiger reserve Madhya Pradesh Mahavir Pandey said we are sending our team from here to Garhwa on this Sunday itself.
Pandey said our team will share notes and experiences in drawing our own man-eating leopard into the cage which is by no means any easy task as here in our state MP this leopard was avoiding our 5 automatic cages.
Sources said the roping in of a team from a tiger reserve in Madhya Pradesh goes beyond any doubt that there is all effort to contain this leopard by either engaging it or by drugs immobilising it as till date despite an office order dated January 14 to kill or wound this leopard, the leopard is enjoying the dictum 'die another day.'