Several incidences of tigers attacking and killing the residents of Uttar Pradesh have been reported time and again. The increasing number of leopard attacks on the locals of UP’s Bijnor district has also created an environment of horror and terror among the people. Residents of Bijnor that houses the state’s Amangarh tiger reserve are living in fear as a killer leopard that has already claimed five lives and injured a dozen villagers so far is out in the open, reported News18.
People are so horrified that the area’s Abhibhavak Sangh (parents association) has demanded that schools in the jungle areas should be shifted elsewhere for the safety of the students. Its convener Nrapendra Deshwal said, “We met District Magistrate Ramakant Pandey and demanded that security arrangements be made for children studying in the schools located in remote areas. Such schools can be shifted to safer places temporarily, till the killer leopard and other rogue big cats are caught.” The 800 schools in the district reportedly do not have boundary walls.
Hence to safeguard the locals from the attack of the killer leopard, forest officials are now using elephants. According to TOI, a search team of three trained elephants will now be on the lookout for the leopard. According to forest officials, the jumbos ‘are trained to carry out search operations and comb sugarcane fields.’
Divisional forest officer M. Semmaran said that forest personnel will be sitting atop these elephants to shoot tranquilizer darts on the leopard. “We are in touch with an NGO, Ahrawat, to hire trained jumbos. Three elephants are to be hired to comb the dense sugarcane fields. We will tranquilize the killer leopard by sitting on the elephants where our staff will be safe.”
The forest officials have also reportedly set up eight camera traps at Mohandiaya village where the leopard has been around for the past eight days. They have also kept cages with bait to lure the leopard and the officials have also increased vigil and patrolling. Expert pugmark analysers have confirmed that the same cat has killed five people since November 25.
According to reports, a five-year-old boy was earlier mauled to death, while another child was critically injured in a leopard attack that happened last month in the Bijnor district. With locals being worried for their safety, the officials have decided to rescue all the leopard cubs and send them to the zoo.
People in the state have earlier beaten a tigress to death when it allegedly became a threat to their lives. We hope the officials are successful in catching the leopard with the help of the elephant search team and send it to a safer abode ensuring that no life is lost.