Hunt on for maneater leopard in Anantnag
[ 14 Jan, 2007 1600hrs ISTPTI ]

SRINAGAR: Wildlife officials have launched a hunt for a "maneater" leopard that has killed three children in Anantnag district in the past fortnight and advised people in the area to take precautionary measures.

"A massive hunt is on for the maneater leopard and we are hopeful it would be captured or killed in a day or two," a Wildlife Department spokesman said here on Sunday.

The leopard has struck thrice in a fortnight in Shangus forest belt in Anantnag district and killed three children, including two girls, he said.

He said wildlife, police and army personnel were camping in the area and supervised by senior department officials and a senior police officer.

Jammu and Kashmir Health and Power Minister Peer Mohammad Hussain has meanwhile directed the department to provide ex-gratia to families of the victims.

He convened a meeting of the department and police officials asked them to catch or kill the big cat within two days to prevent further loss of life.

The spokesman said inhabitants of 30 villages in a 15-km area were advised to restrict movement out of their houses particularly after dusk as the leopard could strike again.

They should stay in groups guarding their children and beat drums while moving around, particularly at night, and women and children should not to venture deep into the forest.

On January 4, 10-year-old Shabina Akhter was killed by a leopard in Beighpora-Utrusoo village and on January 12 the mutilated body of Beauty Jan, 9, of Panchalthan in Achabal area was found in a nearby forest.

Maneater secured another victim, now its four children.

Another victory for gun control.

Which country is this?

Sounds like India as they mention Kashmir.

sounds like a job for a shooting ballerina!

Used to be India in Jim Corbett's day, and not far from Rudraprayag and Panar-- site of two of the worst man-eating leopards in history. The Rudrapryag maneater was mentioned in Parliament in London.

Any chance of capturing this brute alive and transporting it to Central Park NYC? Let those cliff dwelling greenies get a taste of the real world.

Hey not all of us NY'ers are greenies!!

quote:

Originally posted by stillbeeman:
Any chance of capturing this brute alive and transporting it to Central Park NYC? Let those cliff dwelling greenies get a taste of the real world.

New York and New Yorkers aren't all bad as I'm pretty sure they have a Holland and Holland store there.

http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/index.php?menuID=2&subID=1357&p=4

I wonder if the iron bars were CRF?

Man eater was killed yesterday in handwara area in kupwara district of kashmir.Its not cleared if it is the same one operating in Anantnag.

Waidmannsheil

I've just left India after three years. Most people, and probably everyone posting here, don't have much of an understanding of the "man-eating" leopard situation in India.

India has well over a billion people and zero respect for wild game. They are allowing the tigers to disappear; driven towards extinction by corruption, and a don't-give-a-shit attitude by the rest of the population.

The leopard is the victim here. The human population is exploding with levels of civilization in India spanning the Stone Age to the Space Age. Most can't figure out how to ride an elevator, and squatting in a field or on the sidewalk to take a dump hardly draws a stare.

I found nothing much to admire in India other than their tremendous history, and they have little respect for that. Three hundred year old monuments turned into public toilets. Indian tourists carving their names on wonderful ancient fort walls while authorities watch. (The Taj Mahal appears to be the single structure in the country that they wouldn't piss on.)

They have nature preserves that preserve very little. The expanding population of the very poor are allowed to move in and live in the nature preserves set up to protect the leopards and tigers. In the reserves they graze their cattle and goats; strip the land of vegetation to burn in their camps, and elimenate habitat for the leopards prey. So the leopards survive on what's left; dogs, goats and people.

That leopard you mention is a hero to me. The term man-eater doesn't exist in the world anymore. We've pretty well ruined their world.

Unfortunately the more publicity the leopard/human incidents get, the more likely you will see leopards elimenated in the wild in India during your lifetime.

Right now you have tiger reserves in India where tigers have not been spotted in many, many years. It became public last year that in one reserve that still publicized tiger tourism, they were placing "tiger tracks" on the dirt roads by using carved wooden pug marks. The tigers had been poached to extinction there years ago, but the government functionaries wanted to keep their jobs so they invented tigers.

Like hunting itself, wild tigers and leopards are being cornered and at some point this century will cease to exist. Even Jim Corbett saw it coming and tried to change. Hunters and wild game are on the same side of the equation. We need to protect each other, until we're the last man standing.

Kensco,

very informative but depressing post. The real threat to all things natural and wild seems to be population growth in poor countries.