Three tigers, one leopard die in four months

By Bomlal Giri 

Nawalpur, June 23: A leopard that injured seven people, including a policeman, in Madhyabindu Municipality -8 of Nawalpur, was found dead. On Thursday morning, the leopard suddenly entered Ram Bahadur Khatri's house in Devkota Tole, in Madhyabindu-8 of Nawalpur and attacked six people.

The Nawalpur police reported that the victims, Deva Thakuri, Sunil Jaiswal, Rupa Kumal, Amrit Chaudhary, Roshan Kumal, and Amrit Mahato are being treated at Madhyabindu District Hospital in Danda. An armed police officer was also injured while trying to protect the locals from the leopard’s attack.

The leopard, which had been attacking people in the village, was killed by the locals and was taken to the Division Forest Office in Kawasoti for a post-mortem before being buried. 

Dr. Pawan Shrestha of the Veterinary Hospital and Animal Service Centre in Kawasoti, who was involved in the post-mortem, said the leopard had various injuries on its head.

Some of the head injuries were old and infected, suggesting the leopard was injured in the forest, could not find food for a long time, and entered the village out of hunger, leading to its aggressive behaviour and subsequent death at the hands of the locals, said Dr. Shrestha. 

Negligence by forest officials 

Locals said that the leopard could have been darted and controlled when it entered Ram Bahadur Khatri's house. However, the chief of the Division Forest Office, Basanta Keshav Adhikari, said that due to the lack of a darting team in the district, the leopard escaped the house and was killed by the locals.

Local Prem Khatri said the incident occurred because the Division Forest Office did not coordinate in time to bring a darting team from Sauraha, Chitwan. “The Division Forest Office did not take necessary steps to trap the leopard inside the house and call a darting team, which resulted in the leopard's death,” Khatri said.

Three tigers and one leopard died in four months 

Recently, the deaths of tigers and leopards in the forests of eastern Nawalparasi have surged for various reasons. Three rare tigers and one leopard have died in the last four months. Human-animal conflict is one of the major causes leading to the death of tigers and leopards in this reason.

Earlier, on February 18, a male tiger was found dead and buried in the Arun Khola forest of Madhyabindu Municipality-10, and 10 days later, another male tiger was found dead in Navadurga Community Forest in Madhyabindu-15. 

Similarly, on May 23, an adult female tiger was found dead in the Binayi Khola riverbank of Binayi Triveni Rural Municipality. The frequent deaths of protected tigers and leopards have raised concerns for those involved in the conservation sector.