A member of the Thane Forest Territorial team who was part of the leopard elimination operation describes in detail, the machinations they went through before taking that fated kill shot
It was an ordinary day for me. I was with my colleagues in the Tokawde office discussing the leopard that has been killing the livestock and stray dogs in our range. Then at around 7 pm on Friday, I got a call to inform us that a leopard had attacked a woman in her early 50s. We headed to Singapur village to recover the body. This incident was unexpected because leopards usually don’t attack humans; they are very scared of us. For us, protecting the animal is an important task, but the loss of a human life was equally serious.
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By the time it was shot by the Thane Forest Territorial team the leopard had killed 11 animals, including the cow (below)
At around 7.30 pm, we recovered the body and it was evident that she had been dragged around 100-200 metres away from the mudtrail that she was walking on. This first incident made us very tense and we knew that another attack would make the situation very dire indeed. That same night, I informed my seniors, including ACF Surve, DCF Kishor Thakare and CCF KP Singh, of my fears and we started preparing a strategy to deal with the situation at hand. Our motive was that as far as possible, we capture the animal alive and to that end, our staff immediately started gathering information about the leopard. The other thing was to spread awareness in the area and request people to not venture out alone.
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The second casualty
Even as we kept hoping that there is no other casualty, we got word on Sunday that a leopard had killed another. We then headed to the Sonawale village and found portions of the body. Soon, however, a mob of over 200 people gathered there and in their anger, started pelting stones at our vehicles. At the time, we had no option but make a getaway. After briefing our seniors, on Monday morning, we were informed that the principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) Nagpur has granted permission to eliminate the animal, terming it “problematic and dangerous to human life”. Even then, I hoped that the expert leopard rescue team from Sanjay Gandhi National Park that was called in, would nab the problematic animal safely without making elimination necessary. We had hoped that we could somehow tranquilise the animal or trap him in one of the six cages that we had set up in the 10-sqkm area around Tokawade. However, even though the leopard entered the trap that was set near poultry, it immediately turned around and walked away.
Trying to keep it alive
The only single objective that kept us all motivated was the wish that we trap the animal alive and unharmed, even as we prevent another attack on a human. To that end, on Monday morning while on a patrol duty, I got a call at around 11.30 am that three shepherds had spotted a leopard near Tokawade, but when we reached there, the animal had gone in another direction.
Also Read: Panic in Murbad after 2 leopard attacks in 3 days
To top it off, even as we were making efforts to capture the animal alive, when the villagers heard about the elimination order, they were ready to cooperate with us, but only on the condition that the animal was shot at sight.
News trickles in
The entire day was filled with floating rumours about leopard sightings and attacks, but on Monday night, we received information that a leopard has taken down a cow. Where? Around 300-400 metres from the Sonawale village.
To ensure that villagers didn’t take law into their hands, we reached the spot, but the whole way there, I wondered about the size of a leopard that can take down a full-grown cow. By this time, it was around 8 pm and as we were inspecting the kill site, one of our team members spotted two eyes glowing in the dark at a distance of 300 metres. I immediately alerted my colleagues and we decided to vacate the spot so as to not aggravate the animal. However, as we were backing away, the animal charged at us and we started running. In the chaos, one of the team members slipped. To distract the animal, we made a lot of noise till it ran away.
Size matters
It was dark, but from what I could see of the animal, it was very huge. I have seen many in the past, and a normal leopard is usually shy that retreats at the sight of humans. This was different. Despite seeing us in such a huge group, it charged at us. We reported back and told everyone to be even more cautious.
On Tuesday morning, the two commandos or sharp shooters from the Quick Response Team of the Thane Rural police arrived, as we were confident that the animal would come to eat the cattle that he had killed. Two machans were set up on a treetop where the commandos took position from 7 am to 7 pm, but no luck.
The fateful day
On Tuesday night, we found out that the leopard had killed a chicken, which seemed unusual behaviour since it had already had its fill of food with the cow and the chicken felt like an unnecessary kill. On Wednesday morning, as the shooters were taking position, news trickled in that the leopard had now killed a dog; another unusual kill.
Then our group of 8-10 people from the Thane Forest Territorial department left for the spot. We were told that the dog’s half-eaten body was lying in the field of the man who lived near Kalambad village. His house was 5-6 km away from the location and gave us an aerial view. Our officer, T Girve, who is also a shooter, set up at the house and at around 6-6.15 am, saw the leopard walking towards its kill. It was then that he had to take the heart-wrenching step of taking the shot and kill the animal that had become problematic. The bullet hit the animal in the head and it died instantly.
Since then, none of us has slept a wink because we feel terrible for having to take the extreme step. If we hadn’t, the locals would have killed it.
There is a section in the society that might find our operation inhuman and cruel, but people should understand that taking the ultimate step was the last option remaining after all others turned out futile.
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