Leopards on the prowl in UP’s sugarcane districts: 2 killed, 500 villages live in fear

Santosh’s neighbour, Kuldeep Singh, said it was the first death caused by a wild animal in the area in several years. 

A team of forest, administrative and police officers on patrol. (Special Arrangement)

A threat lurks

The attack is part of a wider problem stretching across Moradabad and neighbouring Bijnor. Forest officials claimed to have captured 50 leopards in Bijnor over the past eight months. Yet, the big cats continue to stalk people across the two districts, leaving nearly 500 villages on edge.

In the last two weeks alone, two people have been killed and at least a dozen injured in leopard attacks. Two leopards were captured in Moradabad this week.
Officials said these leopards do not come from forests but are born in the vast sugarcane fields, earning them the local moniker “sugarcane leopards”.

The affected villages lie in the belt where Moradabad and Bijnor meet the Uttarakhand border, a landscape of vast sugarcane fields and stretches along the Ramganga river that offers leopards ample cover. Bijnor lies roughly 100 km from Moradabad.

A forest official said the department suspects that this year’s surge in leopard activity may be linked to lower rainfall, combined with the regular movement of villagers into sugarcane fields to collect fodder and other materials.

Officials also suspect the leopard may have moved into Moradabad from Bijnor but have no clear estimate of how many are currently active in the region.

In Bijnor, reports of fresh sightings

Two tehsils each in Moradabad and Bijnor have emerged as hotspots for leopard sightings. In Moradabad, sightings have been reported from Thakurdwara and Kanth, while in Bijnor, Chandpur and Nagina have recorded repeated leopard movement.

Santosh Devi was killed on August 3 when she was working in the fields in Lalapur Pepalsana village, Moradabad. (Express Photo)

Jai Singh Kushwaha, Divisional Forest Officer, Bijnor, said, “Over the past eight months, we have captured 50 leopards from the area, yet reports of fresh sightings continue to come in.”

Acknowledging that the numbers were significant, he added that surveillance has been intensified across around 400 villages and nearly 100 cages have been installed at different locations.

One of the deaths took place in Bijnor on August 3, when a leopard attacked and killed eight-year-old Ravi in Signiwala village as he was returning home with his family. The animal dragged the boy into a nearby sugarcane field.

Jasjit Kaur, District Magistrate, Bijnor, said that the administration has formed Nigrani Samitis, with one or two people from each village being trained on what to do if they spot a wild animal.

She added that 100 cages have been provided to the Forest Department, while a demand for 100 more has been made. She said incidents involving wild animals had decreased this year compared to previous years.

Two leopards caught in Moradabad

In Moradabad, thermal-imaging drones recently detected three leopards moving together in the area. A sub-adult female was captured on August 10, followed by an adult leopard on August 11.

District Magistrate Dr Rajender Pensiya said teams were making efforts to track and capture the remaining leopard. Sixteen cages have been installed in the area, he said, adding that 10 more would be placed soon.

Vinay Kumar, Divisional Forest Officer, Moradabad, said around 150 villages remain affected by the threat and that the department is making every possible effort to track down the animals.

In Moradabad, a sub-adult female was captured on August 10, followed by an adult leopard on August 11. (Express Photo)

He added that one death has been reported so far, along with around 7 cases of leopard attacks on humans.

The most recent attacks occurred on Tuesday in Moradabad’s Malakpur Samali village. Pushpendra, 22, was attacked while he was working in the field, while Tasleem, 52, was attacked while returning home from the fields in the evening. Pensiya said both are undergoing treatment.

Keeping the felines at bay

Both districts have announced a range of precautionary measures.

-Cages and nets have been deployed, while teams patrol the affected areas.

-Public awareness campaigns have been intensified through village meetings and public-address systems

-Residents have been advised not to leave livestock tied up outside their homes, to keep their homes and surrounding areas well-lit at night, and to avoid heading out to the fields alone.

-Farmers have been advised to work in groups of at least two and to keep talking, since remaining silent in the fields could increase the risk of a leopard attack going unnoticed.

-Residents advised to avoid stepping out at night unless absolutely necessary — and, if they must, to carry a torch.