Pithoragarh villagers living under fear of leopards
Pithoragarh villagers living under fear of leopards
B.D.Kasniyal
Pithoragarh, Sept 19
People living in atleast ten villages situated on the periphery of the district head quarter town of Pithoragarh are living under the constant fear of leopards as more than six leopards have been sighted in these villages during the past few days.
Already a young girl hailing from Chachret village in berinag sub-division of Pithoragarh district was taken away by a man eating leopard on the evening of September 17. The girl who was on the back of her mother was snatched by a leopard and her body was found 150 meters away from her home.
“The leopards have been sighted in Bajeti, Papdev, Lunthura, Silpata, Devlalgaon, Chandak, Mostamanu Chana, Paun and Badi ki villages near the town,” said Ko Ko Resey, District Forest Officer, (DFO), Pithoragarh.
According to the DFO, most sighting of the leopards has been witnessed in Bajeti village, where 3 persons have been killed by leopards last year.
Asked about the reasons of frequent sighting of leopards these days, the DFO said that due to mating season these days and easy availability of prey of stray dogs have attracted the leopards towards towns.”As the leopards have not attacked any one yet, we are running an awareness campaign in these villages besides, installing cameras to locate the activities of leopards,” said the DFO.
