Camera traps are being fixed around the tea estate in Mynala near Doddabetta in the Udhagai North Forest Range to keep tabs on the leopard that is suspected to have killed a four-year-old girl on Wednesday.
The leopard is believed to have killed K. Saridha, the daughter of tea estate workers, when she ventured out of her house to relieve herself. According to K. Saravanakumar, Assistant Conservator of Forests (Nilgiris division), camera traps will be placed to ascertain whether the animal was still in the area. Mr. Saravanakumar added that leopard attacks were extremely rare in the Nilgiris division, with the last reported incident believed to have taken place in 2014.
Officials also said no other negative human-leopard interactions had been reported in the area, which could mean that the death of the girl was due to an accidental interaction. They added that the parents of the girl would be asked whether they witnessed the incident, and how it transpired, to ascertain if the animal had been actively stalking the girl. They said the testimonies, and the question of whether the animal was still using the area, would factor into any decision on capturing and relocating the animal to another patch of forest, away from human settlements.
Sachin Bhosala Thukkaram, District Forest Officer (Nilgiris division), said a team of forest staff had been dispatched to the area, and the authorities would continue to monitor the situation before any decision is taken by the Forest Department to relocate the animal. He added that an interim compensation was handed over to the parents of the girl on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, N. Sadiq Ali, Founder of the Wildlife and Nature Conservation Trust (WNCT), said the incident served as yet another reminder to the district administration to mandate that tea estate owners employing labourers had toilets in their estates for workers and their families. “Across the Nilgiris, a majority of the negative human-animal interactions, including the ones that involve elephants in Gudalur, are caused due to negligence by estate owners, who fail to provide basic facilities like toilets to their workers. The district administration should ensure that these facilities are available to prevent such incidents in future,” Mr. Sadiq said.
