82-year-old woman dies in leopard attack in Shirur

In the first human death due to a leopard attack reported this year, an 82-year-old woman died in a leopard attack in Shirur tehsil in Pune. Confirming the development, forest officials said that a ‘search and capture’ operation has been launched in the village to capture the wayward cat.

On Friday, April 25, at around 4.30 am, Laxmibai Bhoite, 82, was sleeping on the porch of her house in Kaul Vasti of Nalage Mala area, Inamgaon, Shirur, when a leopard first attacked a dog at the door of the house. Scared, the dog ran away after which the leopard attacked Laxmibai mistaking her for prey. Forest officials claimed that the leopard dragged the elderly woman for nearly 700 feet away from the house where she was living with her son and daughter-in-law, crossed the road, and took her inside the sugarcane fields.

Meanwhile, Laxmibai’s son woke up due to the dog’s barking and came out of the house only to see his mother being dragged by the leopard into the sugarcane fields. In a state of panic, he alerted the neighbours and a few other villagers and the party began combing the fields for Laxmibai. Forest officials were informed about the incident at around 6.45 pm by Balaso Nalage, a resident of Nalage Mala. A team of forest officials managed to find the elderly woman’s body which was then sent to a rural hospital in Nhavare village in Shirur.

Forest department launches search and capture operation

As per standard procedure, the forest department has launched a search and capture operation in Inamgaon. Smita Rajhans, assistant conservator of forests, Junnar forest department, said, “The department has installed five cages and nine camera traps in the area where the incident occurred. Two ANIDER systems and two moving cameras have also been installed. A drone survey is also being conducted to monitor leopard activity in this area. Once the leopard is captured, the animal will be sent to the rescue centre.”

Another forest official said that the department has initiated the compensation procedure for the family members of the deceased woman.

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Advisory issued by forest department

Following the incident, the forest department has issued an advisory for residents of leopard-prone areas. The department has appealed to locals not to sleep in open areas outside their houses or on the farms and not wander around alone at night. Especially women and children should not be left alone during the night or early morning hours. The department has also appealed to residents not to answer Nature’s call in the open and to install lights around the house etc.

Negligence towards safety advisories leading to fatal incidents

Compared to last year when three human deaths were reported in the jurisdiction of Junnar forest department till April, the situation seems better this year. This is the first human death due to a leopard attack reported this year. In most such cases, negligence towards safety advisories seems to be the major reason. Even this time, despite repeated appeals by forest officials during the awareness drive held just two days before the incident, the now-deceased woman was sleeping outside when tragedy struck.

Rajhans said, “Although we are seeing an increase in awareness among the people and many people have started following the advisory seriously, there is still a sizeable population which tends to ignore safety advisories. During the awareness drive, there was focus on women’s and children’s safety and we advised people not to leave their children outside in open areas or around fields during the evening or at night.”