Forest Dept launches massive search for leopard that killed woman in Magadi

Rising incidents of man-leopard conflicts resulting in the death of two people including a kid in recent times has gripped villages around Magadi in panic. Barely a few days since a leopard killed a three-year-old boy in Kadirayyana Palya, on Friday a 62-year-old lady was killed by a leopard at Kottagaanahalli in Magadi taluk. Following the man-animal conflict, the Karnataka Forest Department has not only launched a massive search to trap and rescue the cat but also deployed camera traps to track the movement of the leopard.

According to forest officials in Magadi, the 62-year-old lady Gangamma was sleeping outside the house as it was summer was attacked by a leopard and mauled to death. “The leopard has dragged her body towards the fields nearby and her body parts were found all along,” a forest official said. Similarly, a three-year-old boy who was sleeping outside the house was also killed by a leopard at Kadirayyana Palya in Magadi taluk. Even though the forest officials had trapped a leopard on Wednesday, they were not sure whether it was the same leopard that had killed the kid. The department had kept six cages around the village to trap the leopard.

Following Friday’s incident, the forest department has formed special squads and deployed a team to track the movement of the leopard. The Chief Wildlife Warden of Karnataka on Saturday issued an advisory appealing to the local villagers to be calm until the officials trap the leopard. The PCCF (Wildlife) has appealed to the public not to step out alone after 6:00 pm. “Villagers must avoid open defecation and always stand in the field when they step out to take livestock for grazing besides locking them up in cattle-pen after 6:00 pm. All villagers have been asked to report to the forest department officials if they spot leopards in their vicinity,” the advisory said. The officials have also apprised villagers to alert the forest helpline—1926 in case of any emergency or sighting of leopards near the village areas.