Bijnor: After taking refuge in sugarcane fields, leopards are now venturing into human habitats in search prey, posing a threat to both man and livestock. In one such incident, three leopards entered a poultry farm at Tanda village, under Syohara police station. The villagers managed to capture one of them and hanged it from a tree.
According to sources, the leopard was hanging all night long, groaning with the pain. In the morning, it was put in a cage and taken to Amangarh tiger reserve, where it would be released at night. A cage has been kept to trap the other leopards who might return.
There is a poultry farm at Tanda village, eight kilometres from Syohara. Its owner Balveer Singh has been running it for the past three years. For the last two days, about 20-30 birds were found missing from the hen coop. A worried Singh raised the matter with fellow villagers. The villagers conducted a search in the area and found leopard pug marks near the farm.
Villagers realized that the leopards were entering the farm by forcing open the bamboos gate, raiding the hen house and taking away some of the birds. Thereafter, a trap was laid to catch the culprit.
Witnesses said late in the night, villagers lying in wait, spotted three leopards coming towards the farm. Seeing three of the big cats, the frightened villagers started beating drums and shouting.
While two of the leopards managed to flee, the third one, a female, hid behind the bushes. The villagers surrounded the bushes. Instead of running towards the nearby jungle, the leopard entered the poultry farm, where the trap had been laid. It was trapped.
Afterwards, the villagers hanged the animal from a tree.
By daybreak, hundreds of villagers gathered at the spot to see the leopard hanging from the tree.
Villagers informed both cops and forest department about this incident immediately. But forest department officials, including DFO, Bijnor, M Summeran, SDO, Dhampur, AK Sharma, ranger Pratap Singh Saini, reached the spot on Monday morning. A cage was brought around 11 am from Dhampur.
In the meanwhile Bijnor forest department called a special team from Corbett National Park to tranquilize the big cat. But the team from Corbett which rushed there could not do so as it was not fit to take a shot. Forest officials pulled it into the cage and sent it away to Amangarh tiger reserve.
On being asked about the incident, Dhampur ranger Pratap Singh Saini confirmed that about two-year-old female leopard was hanging from a tree when he reached there. He told TOI that its condition was normal and would be released in Amangarh at night.
Singh added that the forest department had placed a cage in the area to catch the other two leopards to protect the villagers.
Senior SDO, Bijnor, Salil Shukla said the numbers of tigers in the forest of Bijnor are increasing forcing the leopards of Amangarh to leave the forest. Many of the spotted cats are living in the plains, lurking in the amid sugarcane fields. "As of now, over 100 leopards are in Bijnor district," he added.
