The Raiwala-Motichur-Nepali farm area in Haridwar with a large leopard population continues to be in the limelight. Another leopard that had strayed in was tranquilised and when the forest department team inspected it found canals of the jungle cat damaged and an injury on right leg. The symptoms indicate that the leopard was a man-eater.
The Raiwala-Motichur-Nepali farm area is an area in Uttarakhand where the man-animal conflict is at its worst. Over one dozen residents have lost their lives in leopard attacks in the affected area in the past four years.
With the fresh tranquilising, the number of leopards shifted to another part of the jungle from the affected area has reached 12 in a span of five years.
Rajaji Tiger Reserve’s director Sanatan Sonker said, “The leopard was tranquilised by a patrol party on Thursday. The canals are damaged and we are sending the leopard to the rescue centre in Chidyapur.”
The forest department is planning to fix a radio collar on the leopard and release it in a different part of the jungle. When the forest team conducted an examination they found damaged canals. That and its advanced age forced the staff to cancel the plan and send the leopard to a rescue centre.
Over a dozen villages are located in the affected Raiwala-Motichur-Nepali farm area. The local residents believe that an active man-eater has been finally shifted.