Leopard found dead in Gorewada forests, poaching suspected

Talking to The Indian Express, Kishore Mishrikotkar, the Range Forest Officer (RFO) of Gorewada, admitted that he was not really aware of the presence of leopards in the Gorewada forest tract which was not under the Wildlife management.

The State Forest Department had developed the Gorewada forests under the Compensatory Afforestation Scheme launched over a decade back. Several wild animals, including sambar, cheetal and wild boars, are now visible in these forests. The Government wanted to develop the forests on the lines of Borivli Tiger Safari and a scheme was proposed in this regard recently.

The killing of aleopard by poachers in these forests has now established the fact that the 20-sq km Gorewada forest area has rich wildlife and can be developed as a natural wildlife sanctuary.

Gopalrao Thosar, a nature-lover of Nagpur, however, claimed that he was aware of the presence of a couple of leopards in these forests. A leopard was killed in a road accident in the area last year itself. “Besides leopards and other wildlife, there are at least 150 different species of birds in Gorewada,” he further claimed.

According to Forest officials, the poachers had laid a trap of wire, apparently for wild boars and the leopard seemed to have walked into it. The body of the leopard was sent to the local Veterinary Hospital for post-mortem.

D M Meshram, the Divisional Forest Officer (Vigilance), said they have registered an offence against unidentified poachers under Indian Forest Act and Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.

Meanwhile, different city-based nature clubs demanded that the Forest Department should initiatenecessary steps to protect the wildlife in Gorewada. The forest area should also be handed over to the State Wildlife Wing for further development.

Minister of State for Forests Vinod Gudadhe-Patil, who hails from Nagpur and had initiated the move to develop the forests as a wildlife safari, have not done anything till now in this direction since he became a minister. Incidentally, the State Forest headquarters is situated at Nagpur.

According to available information, there is neither any proper roads inside the forest area nor any communication network to protect the rich forests.