Leopard on the loose in Kinhai Village

The leopard has been feeding on cattle and strays from the village. Locals say forest department has failed to initiate any action

Residents of Kinhai, a village near Dehu Road, claim to have spotted a leopard repeatedly over the last few days. The villagers are terribly scared following leopard attacks on domestic animals in the village over the last couple of days. Some villagers have found and preserved leopard pugmarks on their farming land. Others villagers too have witnessed the leopard during the day.

Sandeep Gote, 24, a resident of Kinhai said, “The leopard has been roaming in and around the village for the past three to four days but the Forrest Department are not taking any action. They are delaying taking action on our complaints.” Another villager, Badasaheb Divse, 32, further added “We are living in fear. People are not going to work and children are skipping school and not even playing outside.” Such are the conditions of Kinhai, that no official action has been taken in spite of repeated complaints. Vaibhav Pinjad, 35, said, “We have seen the leopard in the fields, but Forest Department is either ignoring us or not believing us.” With the help of an NGO, the villagers have now installed a cage by themselves.

Founder of the NGO ‘Wildlife Saver of Maval’, Abhay Kewat blames Forest officials for not doing their duties. The Ranger Forest Officers (RFO) do not support him and his team in their operations. He said, “Yesterday, we needed a vehicle to move the carcass of a calf which was attacked by the leopard, but the RFO did not give us a vehicle even though the department has a brand new van.” Several dogs and a calf have been killed by the leopard attacks and there continues to be threat in Kinhai. He added, “We hired a private Tempo, but the RFO refused to pay the rent. They haven’t even called to ask about the rescue operation.” The villagers are frustrated by the forest department’s attitude and feel that only a human death will attract their attention.

Satyajit Gurjar, Deputy Conservator of Forest, Pune Forest Department, said, “ We have arranged for a cage and two forest guards have been deployed. We are alert but it has been difficult to capture the leopard. However, we have found some pugmarks.”

Range Forest Officer, Madhukar Ghodge said, “We had to take first permission from Nagpur office before we could provide the cage. That’s why there has been a delay. We are positive that we will catch the leopard soon.

gunwanti.paraste@goldensparrow.com

Originally published on The Golden Sparrow