No fresh sighting of leopards in city, says K’taka forest dept

Even though the Karnataka forest department officials have continued the combing operations to locate the leopards spotted in Bengaluru city, officials on Saturday said that there has been no fresh spotting of the wild animals on the city outskirts. The department has, however, advised people living in the areas to be cautious. The leopards were spotted at ITC factory in Chikkajala and areas around Turahalli.

Deputy conservator of forests, Bengaluru Urban division, Ravishankar S said: “As of Saturday, there has been no fresh spotting of leopards on the outskirts of the city. The leopard found near the Turahalli minor forest might have shifted to another area. There is a possibility of the animal moving towards Bannerghatta side. Leopards are shy animals and don’t stay long near human settlements. Our verification inside the Turahalli forest area found no direct spotting of the wild animal or indirect traces.”

About reports of leopard movement in Kaggalipura area, the official said that it had happened eight days ago and is not a fresh development. The official added that at Chikkajala, two cages have been kept to catch the leopard spotted on camera inside the ITC factory area.

Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai on Saturday had announced a compensation of ₹15 lakh each to the families of two people killed in leopard attacks in Mysuru in last few weeks.

A 22-year-old woman, Meghana, was killed in the backyard of her house by a leopard at Kebbegundi village in T Narasipura taluk of Mysuru district on Thursday.On October 31, a 21-year-old man, Manjunath, was mauled to death by a leopard in T Narsipura Taluk’s ML Hundi village. Manjunath was attacked by the leopard when he and his friends were returning from a temple.

Talking to the reporters, CM Bommai had said that the compensation is similar to the one being paid to the victims of wild elephant attacks. He said that the forest department has taken the matter seriously and efforts are being made to catch the big cat alive and release it in the forests.

“The families of those killed in leopard attacks will be provided a compensation of ₹15 lakh. The ex-gratia is similar to the one meant for the kin of those killed by wild elephants,” Bommai said.

The Karnataka forest department had previously issued a shoot-at-sight order against a leopard after the animal killed a woman in Mysuru, officials familiar with the matter said on Friday. “The senior forest officers at the state level have given us the permission to shoot the leopard as the animal killed two people in 30 days. We have launched an operation to catch the leopard,” said chief conservator of forests Dr Malathi Priya.

In Bengaluru, an alert was also sounded in Kengeri, Kumbalagodu, Devanahalli and surrounding localities of Bengaluru after locals spotted four leopards in the area. On Thursday, the authorities had also found the carcass of a deer killed by a leopard in Kodipalya near Kanakapura on the outskirts of Bengaluru.