Villagers panic after sighting of leopard

By Prem Raj Simkhada,Kalikot, Dec. 19: Locals have been terrified when a leopard was spotted in Sani Triveni Rural Municipality-2 in the district. The leopard was spotted in Kotkharka of the Rural Municipality under the Karnali corridor.

Hiramani Simkhada of the Rural Municipality-7, who was on his way home from Surkhet, stopped his car and took a picture of the leopard from inside when he saw a leopard sitting on a stone. “A big leopard was sitting on the rock with an amazing view,” he added.

Simkhada, principal of Danfe Secondary School, said that all the passengers in other vehicles were watching the leopard from a distance of 30 meters. But the leopard ran away when it saw the vehicles and people taking pictures from inside.

“Later on when the locals were informed about the appearance of the leopard in the area, they found out the reason behind disappearance of their goats.”Anil Bista of Sani Triveni-2 said that the goats reared by the local farmers of the area have been missing for months. 

Kishor Bista, son of local Dhir Bahadur Bista, saw the leopard earlier in the Salleri forest and ran away to save his life. The leopard appeared in the area again after six months. But goats have been missing every week from the area. 

A week ago, the leopard also ate a cow near Bethekharka of Sani Triveni-3, the entrance tunnel of Phukot Karnali Hydro project. “As far as I can remember, there was no tiger here for about 15 years,” Bista said. There is a cave near Bista’s village where a tiger lives. Below is the Karnali River. Bista said that he was also surprised to see the leopard frequently. 

According to locals, there is not only one leopard, a cub is also found in the small forest beneath the village. The police administration is also concerned about the sighting of a leopard in Kotkharka.

DSP Jayaswar Rimal, who is also chief of the District Police Office Kalikot, said that he informed the village head and the nearby police station and told them to make noise and chase away the leopard.

Panic has spread everywhere after a leopard was suddenly found in the district. Most of the people in the district did not know that there were any leopards for 30 years. It is said that the locals used medicine to kill the tiger 30 years ago after goats started missing. Since then, the tiger was not found anywhere.