Ahmedabad: Eleven leopards have been captured over three weeks in Gujarat’s Junagadh and Amreli districts on suspicion that they are responsible for the deaths of eight people there since April this year, a senior forest department official said Sunday.
The latest among the 11 was a female leopard which was trapped Saturday night from the farm of one Kurjibhai Kyada in Manekvada village in Amreli, Chief Conservator of Forests, Junagadh Wildlife Circle, Dushyant Vasavada said.
A leopard was also captured November 13 from Lunghiya village in Amreli and another in Shivthali village in Junagadh the next day, over 300 kilometres from here, Vasavada informed.
“These leopards have been captured in the region around Visavadar taluka of Junagadh, and Dhari and Bagasara talukas of adjourning Amreli, from where eight deaths have been reported due to leopard attacks since April this year,” added.
The scat and pug marks were being analysed to zero in on the leopards responsible for attacks on humans and those big cats captured are being being kept at the Sasan Rescue Centre.
“We suspect that some of these leopards are behind the attacks on humans. They have been held as a preventive measure, and they are not going to be released anytime soon,” the official said.
The decision to catch these leopards was taken last month after a 60-year-old man, identified as Valabhai Maru, was killed in Visavadar. Prior to this incident, a five-year-old boy was killed in Champathal village, and two others in Molvel, both in Amreli district.
PTI