Indore (Madhya Pradesh): The leopard family has resurfaced in the Nainod area. A cow was attacked on Tuesday but thankfully it was not seriously injured and escaped with just a few scratches. Possibly the leopards are hungry and have strayed too far from the forest area.
It is being surmised that the attack had taken place at midnight, shared divisional forest officer (DFO) Mahendra Solanki.
"The attack happened in Nayabasera, which is an area right below Bijasen Tekri," he said. He added that Nayabasera, Nainod and Infosys come under the same area with a perimeter of 1 kilometre.
As soon as information about the attack on the cow reached the forest department a departmental team reached the spot and started a search operation. They soon found pugmarks. "The pugmarks were small, so we suspected it to be another wild cat, possibly a hyena at first," Solanki said. However, confirming with zoo authorities, it was established that the pugmarks belong to leopards.
Though the forest team has been searching the area for 15 days now, they have not been able to track down the leopards.
Leopard Saga
A leopard was first spotted on Jan 16 in the Infosys campus at Super Corridor. Later, it was found that it was not just one leopard, but rather a leopardess with two cubs. They were spotted in the farmland nearby.
Further on, a video showing a leopard cub went viral from Ekant Society. Since the first spotting, the forest department team has been searching for the leopard using cages, drones, sniffer dogs and thermal scannings. However, the leopard family has remained uncaptured so far and is continuously on the move reappearing at different places thus keeping the forest department on its toes.
What next?
The forest team will search for the leopards using thermal drones at night in the area, where the cow was attacked.
The injured cow
The cow was found injured, with wounds on its stomach caused by the leopard's pounce and teeth. The residents got the cow treated by calling upon a veterinary doctor. Later the Forest Department team reached the spot. The cow was sent for a checkup. After the checkup by the city zoo team, it was revealed that the cow also had scratch marks on its back.
Warning for people
Forest officers believe that the leopard is hungry and is ready to attack. In view of that, people need to be very cautious. DFO Solanki said that the leopard has become more aggressive due to hunger. Residents have been instructed to be alert between 5 am to 8 am and after 6 pm because there is increased movement of leopards during these periods.
