Dehradun: almost 48 hours after a leopard grabbed toddlers playing on his front page at Uttarakhand’s Rudraprayag, a team of three shooters had put big cats on Monday – the seventh maneter to be shot dead in this year’s state.
The attack took place on Saturday when a one and a half year old girl was dragged by animals in Silla-Bahman Village in Jakholi Tehsil.
The forest team combed the area to find animals and toddlers but it didn’t work, after the shooter team was deployed.
Joy Hukil Shooter – For whom the leopard was the 42nd maneter he had placed – said the leopard was a woman aged 8 years and had to be killed after it attacked a forest ranger during rescue efforts.
While the residents of the village were relieved after news spread that the animal had been placed, a family that grieved had not found closure because there was no trace of the child’s body.
Rajneesh Lohani, Range Officer of North Jakholi Range (Forest Division of Rudraprayag), said the initial number of RS 1.2 lakh has been paid to families as compensation.
“We have not released ex-gratia full Rs 4 lakh because we have not found the body,” he said.
Meanwhile, other people who were attached to their lives after being attacked by leopards at Pithoragarh died on Monday, taking victims from those who died in this year’s Leopard attack to 19.
Five victims were attacked in the last 10 days.
It comes even when the search is still alive for the maneater that killed a 10-year-old boy in Pali Pithiagarh Village last week.
Forest officials said the six manuals were dropped before all suffered physical flaws, including claws injured and damaged fangs.
“Defects can make it more difficult for animals to attack strong prey, turn them into semen,” said J Suhag, head of wildlife from the Uttarakhand Forest Department.