35 trappings, 5 deaths: Forest dept nonetheless clueless on Bijnor’s man-eater leopard
BIJNOR: Over the previous seven months, the forest division in Bijnor has trapped 35 leopards, whereas the area has additionally witnessed the deaths of 5 others. Nonetheless, the division is clueless in regards to the man-eater leopard that’s believed to be accountable for the deaths of 15 people and the accidents of over 50 since February within the district.
On Friday, the division caught a leopard from Jattpura village within the Afzalgarh space, whereas on Thursday it caught one from Sikandarpur village. The second leopard is suspected to be the one who killed a farmer. Each leopards can be shifted to Kanpur Zoo.
The forest division has been centered on capturing these large cats as a preventative measure towards leopard assaults within the district. Nonetheless, no complete research has been performed to determine whether or not the trapped leopards are certainly man-eaters.
Bijnor divisional forest officer Arun Kumar Singh admitted {that a} research to determine the man-eaters remains to be underway. “Our precedence is to cage the leopards to curb leopard assaults right here in Bijnor. The trapped large cats had been despatched to varied zoos, together with these in Kanpur, Gorakhpur, Lucknow, and Etawah, for commentary by specialists. The outcomes of the research are pending, however we’ve got initially recognized three suspects whose accidents and irregular behaviour elevate suspicions.”
The Uttar Pradesh forest division headquarters had already given the orders to eradicate the man-eater in early August. Nonetheless, forest authorities have up to now been unable to pinpoint the culprits accountable for the assaults, permitting the menace of leopard assaults to persist.
Based on the officers, Bijnor district is famend for its sugarcane cultivation, an important money crop that sustains the livelihoods of 4 lakh farmers. These huge sugarcane fields have inadvertently offered a beneficial habitat for these large cats. Though the forest division has not performed a leopard census within the area’s plains, it’s estimated that round 150 or extra leopards now reside within the sugarcane fields.
