Leopards on the prowl: How Udaipur is dealing with its big cat problem

The army has been roped in to help with the leopard problem.

It first happened on September 8. When three women had gone to collect wood near a hilly area in Rajasthan's Udaipur district, only two made it back alive. A leopard mauled and killed the third.

Eleven days later, a 16-year-old girl suffered the same fate when she went to graze goats in the jungle there. As per reports, the leopard killed another the same day.

A day later, a woman was attacked and killed by the leopard.

At this point, it was deduced by the pattern of attacks that a single leopard was responsible. Apart from the Udaipur forest rescue team, those from Jodhpur and Rajsamand were also called.

Villagers were angry over the incidents, believing that the forest officials did not do enough to keep such matters in check and efforts were on at the time to pacify them.

However, with the leopard remaining untraced, the army was roped in as well. Station House Officer (SHO) of the Gogunda police station Shaitan Singh said a team from the Indian Army has also been called to assist in the search operation, using drone cameras to monitor the entire area.

"We have set up camera traps at different locations that have so far shown no sign of the leopard," Deputy Conservator of Forest, Udaipur, Ajay Chittora said.

On September 24, it was reported that the forest department in Udaipur district, with help of the Army, has captured two leopards.

The SHO said the two big cats were rescued and transported to Sajjangarh Biological Park in Udaipur city by the forest department team.

He said prima facie, one of the two big cats—the older one who is lacking teeth—might have been responsible for the recent fatal attacks on humans.

"The animal's inability to hunt its natural prey due to broken or lack of canines likely drove it to attack humans, making it easier for the leopard to seek alternative sources of food. However, the forest officials are examining the matter in detail," the SHO said.

A day after this, a five-year-old girl was mauled to death by a leopard there. Angry residents demanded immediate action, including the installation of cages in the area where villagers live.

It was reported that a 65-year-old woman was yesterday killed in a suspected leopard attack.

The incidents, at different locations in Gogunda, have prompted the forest authorities to place five cages in order to capture the leopard that is believed to have taken shelter in the hilly area nearby.

Despite the ongoing searches, attacks continue. Today, it was reported that an elderly temple priest succumbed from a suspected leopard encounter.

Wary villagers have stopped nighttime ventures. Cattle grazing and farming now involves groups of five or ten people, and daily labourers who would travel to Udaipur city have stopped. Houses that were earlier kept unlocked and now firmly bolted shut, Indian Express reported.

Goats are put in cages to try and bait the leopard, and a tape is used at night to replicate the bleating, given that the big cat is more likely to venture in the darkness, the publication reported. The forest department there is also taking the help of two shooters with tranquiliser guns, and though IE reported a total of four leopards captured till now, the Rajasthan district very much remains in the grips of terror.

(With PTI inputs)