Leopards now attacking humans in their houses
Leopards now attacking humans in their houses
Man-leopard conflicts in Uttarakhand are increasing as the latest trend shows desperate leopards are now venturing into houses in villages and brazenly attacking villagers. There have been two incidents of leopards entering the inner rooms of houses and attacking people fast asleep. A few days ago, a woman managed to escape from a prowling leopard that had entered her house in the Gangolihat area of Pithoragarh district. Similarly, in another incident, a leopard attacked family members fast asleep in their house in the Jakhnidhaar block of Tehri Garhwal district around midnight last night. However, in both cases the inmates of the houses showed exceptional bravery and managed to save themselves.

The first incident happened in Gangolihat tehsil of Pithoragarh district on July 9 when Prema Devi, a resident of Sunyoda village, fought a leopard that had entered into a room of her house. Despite getting injured, Prema Devi hit the leopard with a stick and forced the animal to flee.

Similarly, Vimla Devi along with her four children was fast asleep when a leopard barged into her house in the Jakhnidhar block of Tehri Garhwal district last night. The leopard attacked Vimla but her 16-year-old son Pankaj showed bravery and attacked the animal with a stick. Taken by surprise, the leopard fled the house. Both these incidents point towards the fact that villagers in hills are now not safe even in their houses.

Leopard attacking humans is not new in Uttarakhand. Mostly aged leopard, when they fail to prey on animals, attack humans or domestic livestock. A majority of victims in these cases has been infants or small children. Leopards have been attacking humans mainly when they were either near a forest area or in the courtyard of their houses. At times, leopards have also barged into cowsheds and killed livestock. But leopards entering houses has been rare.

Wildlife Institute of India senior scientist VP Uniyal told The Tribune that, "A leopard is a very shrewd animal and can go to any extent. There have been instances when leopards have even opened the latches of cowsheds and killed livestock. There have also been cases when leopards removed pathaals (typical flat stone) traditionally used for construction and entered cowsheds to kill livestock". He asserted that man-leopard conflicts were the biggest challenge before wildlife conservationists in the region.