The two-week-long struggle of the forest department team, to get any clues about the man-eater leopard which had killed two persons this month in district Ruderprayag, finally ended on Friday night. The photograph of the suspected man-eater was captured in a camera trap in the jungle near Saurakhal village. After the feline killed two villagers, one each at Saurakhal and Basi, the forest department began intense search operation in the affected area from 9 November onwards.

The team failed to register any sighting and locate pugmarks of the man-eater in the over two week long operation. A calf was mauled near Saurakhal on Thursday. Specialized shooter Lakhapat Rawat says, “We fixed camera trap near the site where the calf was killed and a leopard was captured feasting on the kill on Friday night. We will be conducting search operation on that site now.”

The leopard made the first kill on 6 November and the second two days later to terrorize Saurakhal, Basi and other nearby villages. The leopard was declared a man-eater by forest department and specialized shooters were invited to gun down the dangerous feline. Cages were installed in different parts of the area. When the operation team failed to track the man-eater, the forest department launched a special campaign in the affected villages.

Ruderprayg forest’s sub divisional officer Mahipal Singh Sirohi says, “We have launched awareness programme in different schools in the affected area. Under it we are making the students aware about the measures to take to avoid man-animal conflict.”

Under the awareness programme the school students are advised to stay inside their home from 6-8 p.m, to move in groups, to wear masks on the back side of their head, to clear weeds from their homes, etc. The forest department has so far conducted such programmes at six schools in Saurakhal, Timni, Chauriya, Dhaunda, etc villages.

After getting the camera trap photograph the forest department team will now be monitoring the movement and behavior of the leopard. The team has intensified the search operation to find the man-eater leopard.