The video, which was shared by IFS officer Susanta Nanda, a leopard can be seen attacking a cyclist on National Highway 37 near Kaziranga National Park in Assam. The video, so far, has garnered over 2.66 lakh views and more than 8000 likes.
On Dehradun-Rishikesh Highway....
— Susanta Nanda IFS (@susantananda3) September 21, 2022
Both are lucky ☺️☺️ pic.twitter.com/NNyE4ssP19
In the video, which is being widely shared by the internet user, a leopard can be seen jumping upon a man who was cycling on the side of the highway. Surprised by the sudden attack, the man falls from the cycle and without any further delay, he turns his cycle around and escapes the attack.
In the later part of the video, the man be seen assessing if the big cat bit him or clawed him on his back.
This apart, boar teeth were also seized from him, sources said.
According to reports, the officials posed as customers and approached the smuggler on the pretext of buying the leopard teeth. They first contacted him through WhatsApp and bargained for the price.
They laid a trap to arrest him red-handed after he confirmed the possession of the teeth and sent pictures on WhatsApp. As per plan, the officials disguised as normal customers, apprehended him near Talamaninag road and made the seizure.
Notably, the STF, a few days back, had arrested a smuggler and seized leopard skin from the area.
Meanwhile, a sharp rise in the number of poachers in Nayagarh district has become a matter of concern for the forest officials here.
“A special team led by Khurda ACF was formed to nab the smuggler. Our officials first contacted him through WhatsApp. After confirmation, we conducted a sudden raid on his house and seized the teeth from his mother Veena Pradhan and arrested the accused, Vinod Pradhan. This smuggling is mainly being carried out by his son Sanjay Pradhan,” informed Subrat Kumar Behera, Ranpur range officer.
“Now, we have arrested his father and efforts are on to arrest Sanjay Pradhan also. Now, we have seized leopard’s teeth, boar teeth, a live parrot and rare Indian giant squirrel from his possession,” he added.
Here are two such videos, which are going viral on the internet, that might prove Darwin's "Survival of the Fittest" theory.
In one of the videos, a leopard is seen preying on a cow while in another a tiger is hunting a wild boar but there's a twist in it.
In the first viral clip, a cow can be seen in the deadly grip of a leopard on a roadside. The cow can be seen giving a tough fight to the leopard but the wild cat was trying hard to drag the cow from under a railing.
Later, the leopard displayed tremendous jaw strength and held on to the cow till it successfully dragged it through the railing.
On display, the tremendous jaw strength of Leopard !!@susantananda3 @surenmehra @SudhaRamenIFS @PraveenIFShere pic.twitter.com/XWdG9tJz9F
— SAKET (@Saket_Badola) August 15, 2022
While the second video shows how a crocodile attacks a tiger while it is hunting a wild boar. The spine-chilling clip shows the tiger locking its jaw into the wild boar's neck while a crocodile approaches it from the back.
Just when the tiger was about to kill its prey, the croc attacks the tiger and bites one of its legs. But the tiger reacts quickly and manages to free itself from the crocodile's mouth.
Wildlife has its own survival rules..
— Surender Mehra IFS (@surenmehra) August 17, 2022
let’s not intrude..🐘 🐊 #Wilderness #JungleRules #nature #survival @susantananda3 pic.twitter.com/rGdvF6iGvu
Both the videos have been shared by IFS officers on Twitter. While the leopard-cow video is shared by IFS Saket Badola, the tiger-wild boar-crocodile video was shared by IFS Surender Mehra.
Based on reliable information, a team of STF conducted a raid with the help of Ramgir Forest Officials on Tuesday near Ramgir Gupteswar Gate under Ramagiri Wildlife Range under Baipariguda police station.
The man was arrested as he could not produce any authority in support of possession of the leopard skin, for which he has been handed over to Ramgir Forest Officials under Jeypore Forest Division.
Since 2020, the STF has seized as many as 30 leopard skin and arrested 43 wildlife criminals, the official said.
Later, Pankaj Garg, Deputy Conservator Of Forests, West Nashik Division said that the leopard was "later rescued and released in its natural habitat.”
Later, the video was uploaded on social media and it went viral.
"I don't have any information; even my employees have not told me anything about it. I have received the video and it is quite obvious that it could have come out in the night in search of food," Titlagarh Ranger, Jitendriya Nanda said.
Even though the incident has created an atmosphere of panic among the locals in the area, the authenticity of the video is yet to be ascertained.
According to sources, some fishermen who were fishing in the reservoir spotted the tiger's body floating on the waters early morning today and informed the local villagers about the incident.
"We had never seen tiger in our area before so we suspect that the big cat might have died and swept away in the river water to this side," said a villager.
After being informed, a team of forest officials led by forester of Khamar range Kiran Bala Nanda reached the spot and recovered the body of the tiger.
"We received an input about the death of a tiger and recovered the body of the animal from the water. The age of the big cat is estimated to be 3 to 4 years," said Nanda.
The forest official also added that the higher-ups have been intimated about the incident. Post mortem by veterinary experts today will reveal the exact cause behind the death of the big cat.
Sambalpur: In a joint operation, the Crime Branch and Wildlife Crime Control Bureau officials busted a tiger skin racket in Kisinda area of Sambalpur today.
The officials have arrested two persons and seized a leopard skin from their possession. Both of them are suspected to be hunters, informed sources.
As per sources, after killing the wild animals, their skins are sold outside the state at a price which is in lakhs of rupees.
The investigative officials are yet to establish since how long the accused have been involved in this illegal activity.
An investigation is underway to trace other people linked to this racket, informed officials.
The leopard fell into the trap laid by the forest department officials on Monday at Haladi village in Nuapada district from where another man-eater leopard was captured after it had killed a four-year-old on May 26. It was also received by the zoo and has been kept in a small enclosure.
An official said the two leopards captured by the forest officials from the village will not be allowed to be exhibited for the visitors. They will be kept in captivity for some months as they were captured from the wild till they become more familiar to the enclosure.
The capture of the second leopard in Haladi village has caused panic among the villagers who are now spending sleepless nights apprehending that there might be more man-eater leopards in the nearby forest.
The panicked villagers are now moving in groups carrying lathis even during the day time.
The Nuapada Divisional Forest Officer said it was for the second time a leopard has been captured from the village. He ruled out the possibility of the presence of any more leopards in the area.
However, the forest officials have asked the villagers to take all precautions while venturing into the forest.
Locals said they saw a leopard roaming in the area early in the morning.
“The leopard was moving towards Surusahasahi passing through a path near Simanbadi Bazaar at around 6 am,” said a onlooker.
However, forest department officials could not be contacted over the matter.
"The animal will be kept in the zoo quarantine for at least a week for observation as it may be under stress. Then it will be shifted to an enclosure. We will talk to the higher-ups about a special enclosure for the leopard if needed," Nandankanan deputy director Jayant Das said.
The killer animal which had also left two others injured in the same village was shifted to the city zoo in a special cage. A trap was laid in the Haladigaan village in Nuapada district on Friday night with a goat inside it.
The animal spread panic in the district after it had dragged a four-year-old into the nearest forest on May 26 night and mauled the child to death.
The leopard picked him up while he was asleep with his parents on the verandah of their house. His parents found the son missing the following morning and searched for him. They spotted a series of blood stains leading towards the forest. They followed the blood marks only to find mutilated body of the child.
Later on July 9, the animal had attacked 55-year-old Dhanabai Pandey and her granddaughter Chandini (10) in the same village while they were asleep in their house.
A trap was laid inside a forest near Haladi village in which the leopard was caught.
Earlier on May 26, the leopard had dragged a four-year-old into the nearest forest while he was asleep with his parents on the verandah of their house.
His parents found the son missing the following morning and searched for him. They spotted a series of blood stains leading towards the forest. They followed the blood marks only to find mutilated body of the child.
Later on July 9, the animal had attacked 55-year-old Dhanabai Pandey and her granddaughter Chandini (10) while they were asleep in their house.
The animal strayed into the village last night and attacked 55-year-old Dhanabai Pandey and her granddaughter Chandini (10) while they were asleep in their house.
Neighbours rushed to spot after hearing screams of the old woman and drove the animal away. Later, they informed the forest officials who launched a search operation to trace the leopard.
The leopard is suspected to be the same which had dragged four-year old Chhaganlala, son of Hiralal Pandey of the same village, into the nearest forest while he was asleep with his parents on the verandah of the house in May.
His parents found the son missing the following morning and searched for him. They spotted a series of blood stains leading towards the forest. They followed the blood marks only to find mutilated body of the child.
The heartrending incident had left the villagers scared.
Residents of the village, who have been keeping a round-the-clock watch on movement of wild animals straying into the human habitations, located the leopard in the Sarada Mandir premises.
Following the May 26 incident, in which a tiger dragged a four-year-old boy of the village into the forest and mauled him to death, locals of six villages are scared a lot and have been keeping the vigil to ward off straying wild animals.
Officials of the Khariar Road forest division reached the spot after receiving the information and are monitoring the wild animal’s movement.
On May 12 a bear had entered Bichuali village under Belpara block of the district and injured two persons. A week prior to that, four to five persons were injured in another bear attack at Titlagarh, before it was captured by forest department officials.
Similarly, on April 17 a leopard had also strayed into Kuruli village under Kantabanji forest range in the district. The forest officials were able to capture the leopard after 12-hour-long operation. Two persons including Tureikela Police Station IIC were injured in the leopard attack.
According to environmentalists, 33 percent forest area is needed to maintain ecological balance between human and wildlife but forests in Bolangir district have reduced to just 14.7 percent area which has emerged as a major concern.
The Leopard which also attacked the Tureikela Police Station IIC during the rescue operation was finally captured by laying a cage. Till last reports came in, the leopard was being taken to Harishankar.
Earlier during the day the leopard was found hiding in a cowshed spreading panic among the villagers.
By the time forest officials and police reached the spot, the leopard had already attacked one person and entered another person’s house. A rescue operation was launched in which Tureikela Police Station IIC climbed up to the roof of the house where the leopard was hiding. However, soon the leopard climbed up the roof and attacked the Police officer who had to jump off the roof to save himself.
After the forest department was informed about it, the officials rushed to the spot. However, as per the latest reports, they have not been able to catch the leopard so far though the Kantabanji forest Ranger and two others have sustained injuries.
According to reports, complaints came pouring in from many villagers that a leopard was sighted at Gobindapalli Ghati in the district almost a month ago. Roaring of the feline at night had made the situation worse.
Being informed, forest officials installed motion sensor camera to track movement of the leopard as there were chances of leopard being present in the area. The month long suspicion turned true as a large leopard was captured in the CCTV footage following which panic has gripped Dakarijodi and nearby areas.
Forest department has launched a search operation to track the big cat. There is a high possibility of baby leopards being present in the area, informed a forest official.
The secretariat, or Sachivalaya, in the state capital near here houses the offices of Gujarat chief minister and chief secretary, besides those of other ministers, senior bureaucrats and government departments.
Secretariat employees and officials have been asked not to enter the complex, which also houses the assembly building, till the wild animal is captured.
CCTV footage shared by the authorities showed the leopard sneaking into the Sachivalaya complex from beneath a locked gate at around 2 am.
On learning about the presence of the leopard in the premises, the state forest department started a search operation.
"The leopard may have lost its way and entered into the premises. We will either catch him or make sure he leaves the complex.
"We have deployed senior officers along with teams having tranquiliser guns for the operation," said Rajeev Kumar Gupta, additional chief secretary, Forest Department.
He said leopards are part of wildlife found in 40 to 50 square km area surrounding the state capital.
The leopard was spotted at 7.15am in Nanipada, which is surrounded by hills and forest, a senior police official said.
It attacked and injured six persons. A team of police and forest officials was rushed to the area, he said.
"Police and forest teams are on the spot, the area was cordoned off and efforts to catch the leopard are on," said Deputy Commissioner of Police, Zone-VII, Akhilesh Singh.
Despite being a prohibited area, questions being raised on how poachers managed to kill the leopard. Locals are of the opinion that as the forest cover is depleting; wild animals are straying into human settlements. Moreover they alleged that the Forest department has failed to prevent animals from straying into human habitation.
"As forests are being destroyed, animals are venturing into human habitation. But the Forest department should take proper measures to stop this," said Shankar Sahu, a resident of Shagadaghat.
Toeing similar lines Jairam Hati, a resident of Shuagapur said as forests are eroding fast, the population of wild animals is also dwindling. The Forest department should have taken prompt action to stop such killings of wild animals, he added.
Bolangir DFO Sameer Satpathy said usually people react violently when wild animals stray closer to human habitation.
In 2013, locals allegedly thrashed a panther to death at Piprut village under Saintala block of the district and the claws of the panther were missing from the carcass. Similarly, in April 2018, a bear which had strayed into a village in Titlagarh was beaten to death.
While the local people have been asked not to venture out alone in the night, morning walkers have also been stopped from entering a specific area near the airport, as the officials are suspecting the presence of the leopard in the area.
"I saw the leopard loitering near the tower around 4:40 am and later the animal jumped the wall towards the city. It is big in size," said TS Ahmad, a security officer deployed at the ATS tower.
A special team of the Forest Department has been deployed to capture the wild animal. The team has launched a search operation to locate the leopard in the area.
Sources said a team from Nandankanan Zoological Park is also present at the spot to oversee the situation.
A Forest Department official said, "All our staff were on duty throughout the night. The leopard is in the airport area and we are trying our best to tranquilise the animal unharmed."
As per latest information, a team of Forest Department & CISF led by city DFO has started an operation to capture the leopard along with a tranquiliser team of Nandankanan. The old airport road has also been sealed for the operation.
The leopard was reportedly spotted in the area on Sunday. The visuals of the leopard entering the campus of a commercial establishment were captured in CCTV cameras. The wild animal had entered the office premises after scaling the boundary wall of the Bhubaneswar airport, said one Bankanidhi Senapati, who claimed that he saw the big cat at around 10: 30 PM on Sunday.
As per latest reports, the wild cat has been safely released in the Chandaka forests after being given a preliminary treatment at the Nandankanan Zoological Park in Bhubaneswar following tranquilization.
Honorary Wildlife Warden, Subhendu Mallick said, “The leopards are nocturnal animals and hide during day time. The animal that had strayed here was a male and will be kept in Nandankanan Zoo for a while and later probably will be shifted to the forests.”
“After a long operation of two days, the officials of Chandaka, City forest divisions and experts from Nandankanan were able to trap the leopard,” said forest ranger of Chandaka wildlife division, Sameer Kumar Behera.
#WATCH: The leopard that had strayed into airport area in #Bhubaneswar two days ago was caught in a trap laid by forest officials last night #Odisha pic.twitter.com/6AEI1IRcR7
— OTV (@otvnews) February 20, 2019
“The leopard was screaming after it got trapped in the cage. Therefore, we gave it mild tranquilizer for smooth shifting of the animal to Nandankanan. We are constantly monitoring the leopard and it's perfectly healthy," said another officer.
“The animal was caught with zero casualties. Neither the leopard nor any officer or locals were injured in the operation. Initially, we tried to tranquilize the leopard but the area was not suitable. So later, we decided to lay six cage traps, three inside the airport premises and three outside,” said another forest official adding that the leopard might have strayed into the city through the drainage channel between Chandaka forest and Bhubaneswar.
The leopard was spotted near the city airport thrice. First, it scaled the airport boundary wall and entered the premises of the commercial establishment in Palaspalli area, the visuals of which were captured by a CCTV. A day after, it was again spotted in the wee hours of Tuesday by a security personnel deployed at the ATS Tower.
Following this, a team of forest department and CISF led by city DFO began an operation to capture the leopard. Even a tranquilizer team of Nandankanan was also present at the spot.
Based on satellite image showing movement of the leopard near the BPI Airport, the forest department officials along with CISF team laid traps with chickens as baits to capture the wild cat.
The leopard was again found lurking near the Regional Meteorological Centre at Biju Patnaik Airport last night and it was successfully captured at around 2 am and shifted to Nandankanan Zoological Park.
Sources said the locals noticed the animal stuck in a trap laid in a hollow of a mountain on the outskirts of the village.
People informed the forest officials who rushed to the spot to rescue the animal. The officials found that the animal forcefully broke the trap and then escaped.
The officials have launched an operation to locate the leopard. They said that it might have sustained injuries and must be roaming in the nearest forest.
They suspect that some miscreants might have laid the trap to poach wild boars, in which the leopard got trapped.
(Edited By Pradeep Singh)
The stray dog is taken care by local resident Jayalakshmi who was staying alone in her farm.
The leopard that came to hunt the dog during the night got locked up with the same dog in a toilet. However, the dog's presence of mind ensured it remained unharmed during the six-hour ordeal.
Sharing a video I received from the spot. After the leopard and dog were spotted inside the toilet in the morning, curious passers-by joined forest department officials to figure out how to catch the leopard and release it to the forest. pic.twitter.com/9dLzlxTUOO
— Prajwal (@prajwalmanipal) February 3, 2021
A plan was hatched to trap the tiger in a net from the top of the toilet. But the leopard proved to be too strong, broke free and ran away. pic.twitter.com/ZFZgtDWkH0
— Prajwal (@prajwalmanipal) February 3, 2021
who is now posing for photos. pic.twitter.com/LKy0s4viNx
— Prajwal (@prajwalmanipal) February 3, 2021
The leopard managed to give the slip when Forest Department staff broke the roof of a toilet to tranquilise it. The moment the asbestos sheet that served the roof was broken, the animal took a leap and managed to escape into the adjoining forest.
People from Subramanya and surrounding villages in Sullia taluk had breathed a sigh of relief when the leopard ended up in the toilet of Jayalakshmi's farm while chasing the stray dog.
Deputy Conservator of Forests (Mangaluru Division) V. Karikalan told IANS that when the leopard chased the stray dog which went into the toilet, the owner of the house immediately locked the toilet door.
"This incident must have a occurred at around 3 a.m. but the Forest Department received a call only at 7 a.m. and immediately our staff rushed to the spot. The staff tried to capture the animal without tranquilising it as the house is adjacent to reserved forest area, but could not do it. When the tranquiliser team arrived and tried to remove the roof as part of the operation, the roof broke and the leopard succeeded in escaping," he said.
He added that the Forest Department had placed two cages in the event of the leopard coming back to the village. "Leopards are not like territorial animals like tigers or lions. They roam around freely and hunt freely. Therefore it is very rare to see a same leopard in the same place," he said.
He denied the claims that the Forest Department botched up its plan to capture the feline.
He added that it was a surprise that leopard had not eaten the dog, its favourite prey. "Leopards relish dog meat, it is quite surprising, perhaps it might have been too panicked when it got locked inside the toilet," he said.
Local people who had gathered at the spot expressed displeasure over the failure of forest officials to catch the big cat.
The leopard was mauling cattle and dogs in several villages for the last one year and could not be trapped despite several attempts by the Forest Department.