Nuapada: Two days after a 65-year-old woman was mauled to death by a leopard in Sunabeda sanctuary, a calf falling victim to the big cat was reported from nearby Jalamadhei village in Odisha’s Nuapada district on Tuesday.
According to villagers, the leopard entered the cattle shed of a resident and killed a calf last night. The woman, Sanamati Barik, too belonged to the same village and was attacked and dragged her away by the big cat when she had gone to collect firewood near her home on on March 19.
The second attack within a span of two day has spread panic among the villagers. A team of forest officials has arrived in the village are examining the pug marks, sources said, adding that two big cats were spotted at Taria Mahuabhatta under Amanara panchayat of Nuapada block.
In the last 15 days, two buffaloes and a calf were killed while one bullock and a calf were attacked by leopards, which have been straying into the villages and dragging away livestock from their houses for the last two weeks, the villagers claimed.
At least four such incidents have been reported since March 6 where locals have found half-eaten carcass of their cattle and even spotted the animal. While staff have been deployed near the village and camera traps installed to monitor the leopard’s movement, sources added.
Notably, Sunabeda forest ranger Shiba Prasad Khamar had then attributed the killing of the woman to a Royal Bengal Tiger after examining the pug marks around the body and the pattern of eating the flesh and sucking of blood from the body. The PCCF (Wildlife), however, negated it hours later since the presence of Royal Bengal tigers in the forest is not confirmed.
According to reports, a female leopard has shelter in a cave near the village with her two cubs and is hunting for prey to feed itself and its offsprings.
