Mother fights off leopard to save girl; shoot order issued

Chandrapur: Order has been issued to shoot a female leopard after it barged into yet another house and attacked a three-year-old girl in Durgapur village on Tuesday night. The girl was rescued by her mother who charged at the beast with a stick. The startled feline fled the spot but not before injuring the girl whom it tried to drag away.
Enraged villagers gheraoed the forest team lead by RFO, Chandrapur range, Rahul Karekar, which rushed to the spot on getting information. The villagers did not allow the foresters to leave until CCF Prakash Lonkar visited the place and issued shoot order on Tuesday night.
Aaraksha Poppulwar (3) was having meal at her home at around 9pm when the leopard jumped inside and attacked her. The girl’s mother, who was in the kitchen, rushed to her rescue and attacked the beast with a stick after which the leopard fled the spot.
An injured Aaraksha was rushed to Chandrapur GMCH and later shifted to a private hospital. She is now learnt to be out of danger.
The feline has terrorized Durgapur village since February this year. It has killed three people and mauled one person in a span of just three months. In the last three incidents, the leopardess had intruded houses in the village.
CCF Lonkar told TOI that even as police were present at the spot, villagers were not ready to allow the foresters to leave until orders were issued to shoot the problem leopard. “They relented only after I rushed to the spot. The order to shoot the problem leopard was issued after consulting higher officials,” said the CCF.
Earlier, the CCF’s office had sent a formal proposal to PCCF (wildlife) seeking orders to either capture or kill the problem leopard following recommendations of an advisory committee in the backdrop of the leopard attack in which a woman was killed in her house in Durgapur village on May 1. The proposal was still under consideration when the latest attack took place.
“Two teams with tranquilizing experts and a shooter have been deployed in the area. They have been instructed to first try to tranquilize and capture the problem animal. If the efforts fail, shoot the beast as the last resort,” Lonkar said.
The CCF further said that forest department has installed cages with baits to lure the leopardess while camera traps will track its movement.
According to state wildlife board member Bandu Dhotre, the conflict situation in Durgapur has reached a critical juncture. “The leopardess intruded houses to attack humans in three consecutive incidents. The beast has become a threat for human lives and there is discontent among people following the repeated attacks. In his order, the CCF has agreed that the leopardess’s behaviour has turned abnormal and aggressive, and it poses threat to human lives,” said Dhotre.