M F AHMAD
Daltonganj, Dec 16: The leopard that took the life of a five-year-old boy in the Bhandariya block of the Garhwa district is now being called a man-eater.
Kumar Ashish, the conservator of forest Palamu said, “The post-mortem details of the boy killed and later half eaten by the leopard goes beyond doubt to confirm that it is now to be categorised as man-eating.”
Ashish said the leopard has licked human blood and devoured human flesh. “What more proof one needs now to classify this leopard as man-eating,” he quipped.
ALSO READ: Leopard kills five-year-old boy in Garhwa
He said any wildlife that starts eating man becomes an object of extreme hatred by people as they begin to see it with lots of anger, frustration and revenge.
Ashish said the DFO of the South division of Gharhwa Shashi Kumar is in touch with him over the issue of this leopard.
He agreed that even if a man-eating leopard is captivated its release will be an issue. There is no forest in Jharkhand or Palamu, Garhwa and Latehar districts without human habitation in and around it. If this leopard is released into the forest, the problem and risk to life will continue to be of the same severity.
“We have alerted all rangers to be on guard against this new menace of the leopard under the directive of Kumar Ashutosh, the field director and chief conservator of the forest at Palamu Tiger Reserve,” Ashish said.
Tourist guides, tourist drivers and car drivers who ferry tourists etc have been cautioned not to go for even the slightest of adventurism in jungles at all. As the year 2022 is about to end, there is a huge rush of tourists everywhere in the jungles where are located scenic spots and caution is down in the lap of nature.
Principal chief conservator of forest and chief wildlife warden Jharkhand Shashikar Samanta on being contacted today said, “I am looking into it. The sad incident has been brought to my notice. Let me see what can be done.”
The bereaved family of the leopard victim is to get Rs 4 lakh as ex gratia relief from the state government.
