Elusive leopard responsible for human deaths in T.Narsipur captured

Forest staff verified the involvement of the captured leopard in the attacks by matching the rosette pattern with the image from the camera trap

The leopard, which had killed a 11-year-old boy at Horalahalli in T.Narsipur taluk on Saturday was trapped on January 26 providing reprieve to the people of the region.

Chief Conservator of Forests Malathi Priya confirmed that it was the same leopard which had killed the boy a few days ago. She said the forest department had installed camera traps around the spot where the boy’s body was found and the leopard was camera-trapped at the spot on Wednesday.

‘’The same leopard has now been trapped in a cage as evident in the rosette pattern which matched and has been verified,’’ she said. It big cat is a 5 year-old male and authorities believe it could be the same leopard which not only killed Jayanth but was also responsible for the killing of Siddamma a few days earlier.

The distance between Horalahalli where Jayanth was killed and Kannayakanhalli where Siddamma died due to a leopard attack last Friday, is about 1.5 km. Hence the speculation that it is the same leopard.

However, in case of Kannayakanahalli where Siddamma died, the forest department does not have any camera trap images. The inference is deduced based on the distance between the two villages, said Ms. Malathi Priya.

Notwithstanding the capture of the leopard, the nearly 130-strong force deployed in T.Narsipur will continue their monitoring activity as authorities are getting frequent calls about leopard sightings from the villages.

Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said directives will be issued to constitute a leopard task force on the lines of the Elephant Task Force. Authorities are awaiting the orders for its formalisation.