Four persons were seriously injured when a leopard attacked villagers in Sibsagar district on Sunday, police sources said.

For the first time the Forest Department here implanted a microchip into a leopard so that it could be easily identified later.

With increasing incidence of man-leopard conflict, the recent one being at Nigdi, Pune forest division is all set to carry out a study on the "Genetical mutation in leopard species.' This is to study how leopards adapt themselves to human habitat. The first of its kind study has been approved at a meeting held by Union Minister of State for Environment and Forests (MoEF) S Raghupathy in the city. Deputy conservator of forests, Pune circle Ashok Khadse, who attended the meeting told The Indian Express of this development. The degradation of quality wildlife habitat and natural prey has forced leopards naturally to move towards human habitations. "We will carry out the study and have been asked to put forth our detailed proposal before the ministry,' said Khadse. The study will try to analyse the reasons behind the leopards adapting to sugarcane fields and agricultural lands and choosing dogs as their prey. While the proposal is yet to be worked out, Khadse said an earlier study of habitat and prey base in forest areas of Junnar division, Bhimashankar Sanctuary of Pune division was carried out. With a number of leopards entering populated areas, the recent one being the one at Nigdi, this study will help to understand this movement. The study will also observe whether the leopards have got acclimatized to human surroundings. Khadse said the expansion of Junnar rescue centre was another issue taken up and which was given the go- ahead from the ministry. Participation of various social organisations in wildlife management and implementing the metro green project too were discussed.

A CBI special court in Jaipur has convicted wildlife poacher Kalya Bawaria, responsible for a series of killings of tigers and leopards in the Sariska tiger project in Alwar in Rajasthan. Bawaria has been sentenced to imprisonment for two years and five months and is currently in judicial custody facing trial in several wildlife poaching cases. CBI probe revealed that Kalya had linkages with several middlemen based in Rajasthan and Haryana through whom the skins of tigers and leopards were being traded with wildlife smuggler Sansar Chand.

A full-grown leopard, which came from the Ripu Reserve Forest to No. 2 Panbai village under Kachugaon police outpost could not be saved despite the efforts of Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) personnel, forest guards and local people to catch it alive. In an interview to The Sentinel, DFO, Kachugaon, RN Boro said the full-grown leopard came to the Panbari area on Thursday morning. The leopard turned furious as it was chased by the people of the area, Boro said, adding that forest guards rushed to the spot immediately. The department made all efforts to catch the leopard alive and asked for tranquillizers from the Manas National Park (MNP) authority. He said the SSB personnel were also pressed into the rescue operation. Boro expressed that the Ripu Reserve Forest is the home for various endangered species but there is no tranquillizer with the forest department officials to catch the wild animals when they appear near human habitation. The tranquillizer, which was brought from Manas National Park to rescue the leopard had a only one bullet. There were chances that if the bullet missed the target, the shooter might have to face the wrath of the wild animal, Boro said adding, an SSB jawan who took the initiative to shoot from a close range was lucky enough as the leopard jumped over him and the other jawans chased it with lathis. The DFO said at least three persons of the locality were injured by the leopard. The forest department, finding it difficult to tranquillize it, rounded up the area with SSB personnel and local people and started to fire crackers to bring out the leopard from its hideout but it did not do so. Till the filing of the report, the forest guards were still guarding the area to check if it was still there. RN Boro told The Sentinel that the leopard never stayed at a same place but roamed around for food. He said the leopard might have gone back to the jungle at night as they did not get any evidence of its presence at Panbari during the check. On the other hand, the local people, when contacted by The Sentinel, said they heard three rounds of gunshots. Sources also added that some armed youths came after sunset and they killed the leopard and took it away somewhere. The sources, on condition of anonymity revealed that the leopard was a female and its organs were cut away by the miscreants as the people in remote areas believe that it stops unprecedented bleeding of women during childbirth. This kind of medical treatment has been prevalent throughout the rural areas due to the presence of witch-doctors and quacks, who allegedly claim to have the cures for all ailments. DFO (Social Forest) Sonali Ghosh was also present along with Rangers, Deputy Rangers on Thursday. It may be mentioned here that in 2006, another leopard was killed under the same range and even on earlier occasions, the villagers have killed two leopards.

Anger seems to be boiling among Dangs villagers as the number of people being killed by leopards is rising by the day. However, senior forest department officials are paying no heed to the issue, although they were camping in the affected villages on Monday. The villagers allegedly torched a portion of forest on Sunday to hackle the man-eater leopard. Forest officials admitted that the fire was not natural and it was put by the villagers. In last two months, leopards have killed at least eight persons, including three children and have injured about three in villages in Dangs (south) range. The last incident had taken place on Saturday when Kakduben Gawit, 56, living in Waghmal village in Waghai, was dragged by the leopard. The lady eventually died due to excessive blood loss. Before that leopards have already targeted Sanjanaben Nimbare, 4, Thaguben Pawar, 60, Ajay Pawar, 5, Sunandaben Gamit, 16 and Bharjuben Pawar, 55. These villagers were from Amsarvalan, Lavaria, Vangan, Borpada and Waghmal which are situated in close vicinity. "The teams from Geer Foundation and Geer forest have already joined hands with us and are working on the issue. We are adopting all possible plans to put an end to the rising number of attacks on humans. We are not sure if it is only one leopard which is responsible for all the deaths because the pug marks are not corroborating with the statements given by the villagers,' Bharatsinh Waghela, deputy conservator of forests, Dangs (south), said. The villagers, on the other hand, alleged that despite incidents have been occurring since the last three months, forest officials have ignored the issue. "They place the cage and leave the place, which is not the solution. With no other option left, we have now formed teams comprising of men from villages. We patrol the village during nights. Forest officials have failed to help us, forcing us to adopt our own methods to get a solution,' Prakash Birari, deputy sarpanch of Waghmal village, said. hitarth.pandya@timesgroup.com Villagers torched jungle: Officials Forest officials admitted that villagers on Sunday had torched a small part of the forest to tackle the leopard. "Villagers apparently saw a leopard sneaking into the village boundary and put a small part of the forest on fire. When the animal went towards the jungle, the villagers gathered some dry leaves and burnt them. no damage was caused in the jungle or to the wildlife due to the fire,' DCF Bharatsinh Waghela said.

In a shocking incident, villagers in reserved Dangs forests torched about 20 hectors of jungle to stage protest against inaction of forest department in stopping the incidents of leopards attacking villagers. In last two months at least eight persons have been killed by leopards in the region. Sources revealed after one Simguben Gavit was killed by leopard on Saturday situation had become tense in the area due to inaction of forest department and for the same reasons principal chief conservator of forests (Wild Life) Pradeep Khanna rushed to the spot to take stock of the situation. On Saturday only villagers of Amsarval, Borpada, Lawatia, Bhendmal, Vangan and Waghmal had threatened serious consequences if proper action is not taken in the increasing number of incidents becoming victim of animal. Sources revealed that as much as 20 hectors of forest falling in reserved compartment number 149 to 151 which includes shrubs, saplings and some of the big trees were set on fire by the villagers. The incident took place at around 4 pm and efforts were initiated to control the fire. Wildfire is nothing unusual in this season. We are yet to get confirmed information about the wildfire in Sakal Patal range, said a senior forest official at Dangs.

It was a night-long ordeal for the villagers of Aberi, near Rampur, when a leopard entered houses and labour huts, injuring about 20 persons, with one of them struggling for life at the Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC) here. It was at about 3 am last night that a leopard entered a house in Aberi village and injured two women, Meera Devi and Dou Devi. After attacking the women the leopard entered the cowshed, where the family members bolted the door from outside. The village located across the Sutlej, opposite the Nogli area of Rampur falls in the Ani subdivision of Kullu district. According to forest officials, the leopard almost 10 feet-long broke open the door of the cowshed and fled. It was after leaving a trail of injuries through the night that that the leopard was finally tarnquilised by the wildlife wing of the Forest Department late in the evening today. After breaking open the door of the cow shed, it was the turn of the labour engaged by Gable India Ltd, who became the victim of the leopard. The labourers, working on the Rampur hydroelectric project were fast asleep when the predator attacked them, leaving 15 of them injured. One of them has been admitted to the IGMC in a critical state, while the remaining have been admitted to the Mahatam Gandhi Hospital at Rampur. The villagers finally managed to put an end to the terror of the leopard, when he entered a concrete house. The villagers locked him up and summoned the forest and local administration. However, it was only after injuring a forest guard, Jia Lal, who had entered the room to shoot at the animal with a tranquiliser gun that the leopard became quiet. The Ani SDM and the Rampur DFO along with other staff arrived at the spot to bring the animal under control.

A leopard entered the verandah of a house in Lamgao-Bicholim on Thursday, as wild cats have continued to haunt residents of Bicholim taluka. Animal Rescue Squad Chief Amrut Singh told Herald that a leopard entered the verandah of the house owned by one Desai, in an attempt to kill a domestic cat. Officials of the forest department later visited the site on hearing the news. In a similar case, a leopard is believed to have attacked a dog that was tied in the verandah of the house belonging to one Shripati Khedekar at Naiginim-Bicholim. The family switched on the lights at night after hearing a commotion and the wild cat fled under the cover of darkness. The dog was later treated for injuries from the attack. Meanwhile, the forest department has made concerted efforts to catch wild cats who have caused panic in Bicholim taluka. A number of traps have been laid at Lamgao and Kudchirem.

A leopard too shot dead in Panna district, hunter arrested A wounded tiger, said to have been shot by poachers at Uchera in the Panna-Satna forest belt earlier this week, died in Van Vihar National Park here over the weekend. A leopard was also shot dead by wildlife hunters near Panna on Saturday. Panna National Park Director G. Krishnamurthy told The Hindu on Saturday evening that the leopard was shot by a villager in the territorial forest of South Panna division bordering Damoh district. The villager who allegedly shot the leopard has been arrested and the Chhattarpur Conservator of Forest has rushed to the spot for investigation. Following the death of the Uchera tiger, the State Forest Department's wildlife wing has decided to stuff its skin and keep it as a stuffed tiger in its original form in Van Vihar Narional Park for educational purpose. Educating people Van Vihar Assistant Director A.K. Khare said the idea was to indicate the bullet wounds inflicted by poachers and show the people how the tigers are facing the threat of extinction. He said the wounded tiger was located in the contiguous forest of the Kalda Pahad in Panna district and the Parasmania Pathar (plateau) of Satna district. Mr. Chandra Shekhar Dube of Care for the Wild said it would be difficult to conclude at this stage whether the tiger's habitat also included some area of the Panna National Park. The tiger was skinned on Saturday and its skeletal remains were taken out for investigation and stuffing purpose. Its remaining body parts were burnt in the presence of the Conservator of Forests (Wildlife), Ashok Bhatia, Van Vihar personnel and media persons here on Saturday evening. On being found injured, it was tranquillised, operated upon and brought to the Van Vihar National Park by the Panna National Park authorities. When contacted, CREW (Crusade for Revivial of Environment and Wildlife) chairman R.P. Sharma said: "The entire episode is a grim warning how the tigers are threatened in Madhya Pradesh.' Alarming level He said the latest estimation of the tiger population by the Wildlife Institute of India and the Union Government's Tiger Conservation Authority shows that the tiger population has dwindled to alarming levels in the State. The death of the Uchera tiger should be treated as one of the last nails in the tiger's coffin, he added.