BENGALURU: The leopard menace is back to haunt Bengaluru after a month’s lull. A leopard was spotted again in the Turahalli forest area, which is adjacent to the M B Kaval Reserve Forest on the outskirts of the city. The leopard’s movements were captured on CCTV.
After last month’s sightings, Forest officials had set up cages to catch leopards, but it proved futile. After spending days in anxiety, locals had also got back to their normal routine under the assumption that the leopards had moved elsewhere in search of food.
On Friday, a leopard attacked cattle in Kaggalipura’s Siddanapalya area near the B M Kaval reserve forest after dragging it away for about 300 metres. The cattle was grazing in front of Naganna’s house in the evening when the leopard chased and killed it.
After the incident, villagers are worried about their livestock. Those who are dependent on dairy farming for their livelihood have started to selling cattle at lower prices so that they can at least get some money.
Gopal, a local resident, said, “We depend on dairy farming for our livelihood, but the leopard has become a huge menace. The situation has worsened now and we are selling out cattle out of fear of the leopard. Every day, we used to sell 25 litres of milk and now we are selling just one litre. What do we do under the present situation? The authorities concerned are not taking responsibility. We should get at least some return on our investment, otherwise, it will go to waste. One of our neighbours sold a cow for Rs 26,000 which would otherwise cost Rs 40,000. We are living under fear and hesitate to walk alone on the road, or even to come out from the house. We are facing a difficult situation for a long time and the Forest Department has not come up with any permanent solution.”