Man-eating leopard got life imprisonment
Surat: Generally you must have heard about life imprisonment for humans, but today we are going to tell you about a four-legged animal who has been sentenced to life imprisonment. Now he will not be able to come out of the cage for the rest of his life. Now the leopard will have to remain in the rehabilitation center for the rest of its life till its death.
Man-eater leopard becomes prisoner number one
Often you must have heard that leopards attack humans and make them their prey. After capturing such a man-eating leopard, it has to be kept in captivity for life. They have to be kept away from human habitation. Seeing the increasing attacks of leopards on humans, now the Gujarat administration has also come into action. A special rehabilitation center has been made for him, in which the injured man-eating leopard will be kept. The leopard which attacked a 7-year-old child 20 days ago has become prisoner number 1 in the rehabilitation center built in Jankhavav in Surat district.
what is the whole matter
15 days ago, at night, a leopard picked up a 7-year-old child and took him to a sugarcane field and killed him. The family had come to Uskar village in Mandvi taluka of Surat district from Nandurbar in search of work. The couple and other migrant laborers had found work in a sugarcane field in the village. The couple had camped on the outskirts of the village. The family was sleeping outside their settlement when the leopard attacked 7-year-old Ajay and dragged him into the field. As soon as people in the colony came to know about it, they started searching for the child.
The people of the colony saw leopard footprints near the house. When people went out in search of the boy, the child’s body was found in a sugarcane field 300 meters away from the settlement. As soon as the Forest Department received the information, 10 cages were installed to catch the leopard. A few hours later, the leopard came in search of leftover food and was captured in the cage.
Forest department official said this
DCF Anand Kumar said that due to the increasing leopard population in the forests of South Gujarat, they have started coming towards human settlements. Earlier they used to make dogs and pets their prey, now they have started attacking humans also. Earlier, if man-eating leopards were caught, they were sent to Vadodara. Now we have prepared a leopard rehabilitation center at Jankhwav in Mandvi at a cost of Rs 1.50 crore, which has the capacity to house 10 leopards. The man-eater caught from Mandvi has become the first prisoner of this centre.
Leopard attacks increased in Gujarat
Leopard attacks have increased in South Gujarat in recent times. In September, two girls were attacked in Navsari district. Both were treated in hospital. Leopard killed three people in Gujarat in 2023-24. Between 2012 and 2020, 109 people were killed in leopard attacks in Gujarat.
According to government data, there were only 43 leopards in South Gujarat in 2016, but by 2023 their number has more than doubled to 104. He believes that this number is likely to increase three times to around 400 by 2030. We have also made preparations for that. We are going to start another leopard rehabilitation center in a year.
Report: Shailesh Champaneria, Surat
