Debrigarh leopard death: Bargarh DFO suspends 2 officials

Bhubaneswar: Bargarh Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) today suspended two forest officials in connection with the death of a leopard whose carcass was recovered from Damodarpada forest near Khajuria village under Bhatli Forest Range on October 28.

The suspended officials are Kamagaon forester Parsuram Behera and forest guard of Hajuripada, Prabhasini Mahanand.

Sources said the the officials were suspended for dereliction of duty.

While the carcass was earlier suspected to be that of a Royal Bengal Tiger, Forest & Environment Minister Bijayshree Routray later clarified that it was the body of a 2-3 weeks old leopard.

As the exact reason of death of the animal is yet to be ascertained, the body has been sent to the Wildlife Institute in Dehradun for examination.

Meanwhile, Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (PCCF) Wildlife Sandeep Tripathy announced that the forest department has decided to reinstall close circuit cameras (CCTV) in Debrigarh forest to monitor movements of tigers in the area. The cameras were removed in view of the Maoist threat in the area. The tigers would be identified by using pugmark impression pads (PIPs) as per the guidelines of National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), said Tripathy.