MF AHMAD
Daltonganj, Jan 13: The ‘man-eating’ leopard of Garhwa is still dodging the forest officials and the ace hunter Nawab Shafath Ali Khan. The regional chief conservator of forest in Palamu Kumar Ashutosh gave details on how the leopard is playing hide and seek with the chasing team which is out there to hunt it down.
“On Thursday, this leopard killed a pig at Bairya but it did not eat it. We thought the leopard would definitely come to the pig. The chasing team meanwhile set up camera traps. A ready-to-use Machaan was also set up,” said Ashutosh.
He added that the camera traps recorded a jackal instead of the leopard. Two men on the Machaan just waited for the leopard in the cold winter at night but it was not around.
On being asked if it is a game of wit between the chasing team and the leopard, he said, “We are most actively and patiently working on this leopard. We have been able to sight it thrice but since the sighting, three of it, was 80 to 100 meters away, immobilisation with drugs was just out of question.”
Notably, the scat of the leopard has been found along with the pug marks said conservator of forest Garhwa Dileep Kumar Yadav.
