NASHIK: Villagers in Kadva river areas have been living in fear of leopards that are being spotted for the past one year. The pugmarks were noticed regularly. The threat of leopard attack has increased once again in Kadva river area of Dindori taluka. A leopard attacked the one-and-a-half-year-old calf owned by farmer Anil Kond at Kond Vasti in Karanjavan at around 12 o’clock in midnight. It is understood that the leopard entered the wall compound and attacked the calf.
The villager said, “It’s getting very unsafe for villagers, the leopard is roaming in a Kadva river areas and around our homes.”
The eyewitnesses say that the Leopard stayed there for about half to two hours. A calf has been seen killed inside the wall compound after being attacked by the big cat. Panic gripped in the area due to the entry of the leopard into the protective wall compound.
In the area of Kadva river, Karanjvan, Oze, Mheluske Kadva Mhalungi, Nalwadi, Khedle and Lakhmapur, leopard sightings have been increased for the past one year.
Earlier the leopard had attacked a small child and now the leopard has targeted the pets. The leopard has satiated its hunger by attacking many domestic animals like cows, buffaloes, dogs, cats, goats and sheep in this area.
Every village in Kadva river area is inhabited by leopards. Farmers are seen cultivating sugarcane there as farm labourers hesitate to work in such places.
Oze, Karanjvan, Lakhmapur, Mheluske and Nalwadi area is a dam and river area, because sugarcane area is under cultivation on a large scale and because of good facility of water for leopard to drink and sugarcane field to hide, the number of leopards is increasing day by day in this sugar belt. For this, the taluka forest department is being demanded to increase the number of cages considering the seriousness of the situation.
“The number of leopards roaming freely in the villages near the river is increasing day by day. The forest department should take note of the fact and should set up cages at places where the pugmark of leopard found and incidents of attack occurred.”
– Anil Kond, Karanjvan
