Silvester D'Souza

Daijiworld Media Network - Kundapur (SP)

Kundapur, Aug 3: In a recent incident, Swathi who works in a studio located at Vandaru village in the taluk, was walking towards her home in Kiradi village after work hours, when she heard the sound of something chasing her from close quarters. She suddenly turned around and found to her dismay that a leopard was approaching her at high speed. Luckily for Swathi, who began running as fast as she could, she found a house nearby. She rushed into the house and closed the door from behind. After the leopard went away, the family members safely led her to her home through an alternative route.

This has not been an isolated experience. People from Vandaru, Avarse and nearby villages narrate different stories of their encounters with wild animals. Because of frequent movement of leopards, people of these villages fear for their lives and thought of lurking danger has been keeping them tied to their homes.

As per an estimate, over five leopards have been moving in Vandaru and Avarse areas. A tiger has also begun to prowl in this area. Therefore, venturing out of house after in the evening hours is fraught with grave risk. People of these areas, which are surrounded by forests, suffer from lack of basic amenities on one hand, and live in fear of wild animals on the other. A few months back, a person was riding his two-wheeler home after work at night, when a leopard suddenly pounced on him from a higher altitude. Overwhelmed at this incident, he rode his two-wheeler at high speed through bumpy terrain and in the process, fell and injured himself.

Movement of leopards has been increasingly felt in areas like Kiradi, Choradi and Kakkunje areas which are near Vandaru. People have been sighting these animals often. The fact that these leopards are giving birth to offspring has also come to light recently, which has further made people apprehensive. On Tuesday, Mescom officials who went to repair power cables to Bodugallu saw that a tiger was moving about. They also captured movement of this tiger on video. After sighting the tiger, Mescom personnel are shaken, and they are reluctant to undertake repair work in rural areas alone.

The forest department has failed to take any action although various complaints have been filed with them. When questioned, the department officials claim that they have not received any complaint. About six years back, a leopard had entered a house and created lot of problems, but the forest department had failed to act. People from Vandaru and nearby areas have been asking the department officials to cage the leopards before they kill humans in Kiradi area where their movements have been sighted often.

"When I was returning to Vandaru after delivering milk at the dairy, a leopard suddenly pounced from a bush. I was overtaken by fear, and I ran hard. Leopards have been moving around more and more in the recent past. A leopard killed a dog that was with us since the last 11 years. We earnestly wish that the forest department will do something about this menace," says Sharada from Kiradi.

Range forest officer Gopal said the department was unaware of this problem. He said that spot inspection about movement of tiger and leopards will be undertaken soon and a cage will be placed at the earliest at a selected spot to catch the animals.