Final nod awaited to declare leopard man-eater

Daltonganj: The regional chief conservator of forest (RCCF) Palamu, J P Keshri, who retired from the job on Saturday, has given nod to the proposal sent to him by the conservator of forest, Garhwa, Dileep Kumar Yadav, to declare the leopard, which has killed four children so far, a man-eater.
The conservator of forest Palamu, Kumar Ashish, confirmed the development and said the outgoing RCCF Keshri has finally recommended declaring the leopard a man-eater in Garhwa district.
Ashish said, “This recommendation has been sent to the principal chief conservator of forest and chief wildlife warden Jharkhand, Shashikar Samanta, for a final nod as under the Wildlife Protection Act 1972, it is only the chief wildlife warden of the tiger reserve who can declare any schedule 1 aberrant carnivore a maneater, thereby permitting its hunting.”
On the other hand, the conservator of forest, Garhwa, Dileep Kumar Yadav said, “Our 3 automatic cages and the net coming from Meerut are expected to reach Garhwa on Saturday night. Once we get them, we will be using them along with the one automatic cage already given to us by the Palamu Tiger Reserve to catch the leopard.”
Meanwhile, over 55 camera traps have been set up but have failed to capture the leopard.
Yadav said former MLA Girinath Singh has offered to hunt the leopard if it is declared a man-eater.
Talking to TOI, Singh, a veteran BJP leader, said, “I own a licensed rifle since 1978. I am a witness to eliminating a man-eater tiger way back in 1969. Today, there is the same crisis. I will do everything necessary to neutralise this leopard lawfully." Singh further said he had also spoken to the chief secretary Sukhdev Singh on Saturday and got assurance that he would get the permit from the chief wildlife warden to hunt down the leopard.