50 Army officers join 150 forest officials to look for leopard that killed 3 in Udaipur

Forest officials said the Indian Army was using drone technology to help track down the leopard’s pug marks. A forest official also admitted to The Indian Express that efforts to track down the leopard had proved to be challenging.

“The jungle is very dense and during monsoon the bushes make it difficult to see anything or walk. And so, tracing the leopard has become difficult for us despite our best efforts. We called the Army to help the administration and they have been working since morning,” one official said.

The forest department sources said since the latest attacks were all around the same general area, a single animal could be behind them. (Express)

As The Indian Express previously reported, a 16-year-old girl from Undithal village, a 51-year-old man from Bhevwadiya village and a woman from Umariya village were killed in three separate attacks on Thursday and Friday.

The body of the woman, who had gone into the woods to collect firewood, was eventually found some 3 km from her village. The attacks were all within a 5 km radius and sparked protests in the area.

This takes the number of those who died in such attacks since June to six.

The forest department sources said since the latest attacks were all around the same general area, a single animal could be behind them.

The department has yet to declare the leopard a man-eater. However, according to sources, the Udaipur Forest Range had sought permission to shoot down the animal from the office of the Chief Wildlife Warden in Jaipur and had been turned down.

Udaipur Divisional Forest Officer Mukesh Saini admitted that leopard attacks had gone up this year and said that the department was working to capture the animals.

“An important reason behind these attacks is that the prey base in the Udaipur range has declined. There are around 200 leopards in this range but the prey isn’t easily available. Moreover, growing population and development projects such as roads is also impacting the leopard’s movement. We’re trying to find out how these man-animal conflicts can be avoided,” he had said.

However, the growing number of attacks have caused a panic among local villagers, with protesters blocking the Gogunda-Udaipur highway for three hours Friday to demand the immediate capture of the animals.