Leopard shot dead by forest dept hunters in Uttarakhand's Pauri

Hunters deployed by the forest department shot dead a leopard in Bamthi village here, bringing relief to villagers who had been living in fear for the past fortnight, officials said on Friday. The eight-year-old leopard, which was killed late Thursday, was brought to the Nagdev Range office in Pauri for post-mortem examination, they said.

Hunters deployed by the forest department shot dead a leopard in Bamthi village here, bringing relief to villagers who had been living in fear for the past fortnight, officials said on Friday. The eight-year-old leopard, which was killed late Thursday, was brought to the Nagdev Range office in Pauri for post-mortem examination, they said. They said only after the post-mortem report would it be possible to conclusively determine whether the leopard was a man-eater. About a fortnight ago, two leopards attacked 65-year-old Sita Devi while she was cutting grass in the fields in the same village and dragged her towards the forest. Ayesha Bisht, Sub-Divisional Forest Officer (SDO) of the Garhwal Forest Division, said forest department teams had been deployed in the area since the April 23 incident and were carrying out continuous patrols in the village and nearby forests. She said the department's hunters were prepared to tranquilise the leopard, and, if required, shoot it as a last resort. Bisht said the operation was successful and the animal was shot dead. The killing of the leopard has considerably eased fear among residents of the village and adjoining areas. However, the forest department has urged people to remain vigilant.