Kolkata: The carcass of a full-grown leopard was found in Bakadaha Forest under the Bishnupur division in Bankura in the early hours of Friday, marking the first-ever sighting in the district, according to foresters.
“There has been no previous record of leopards from Bankura. In South Bengal, there has been evidence of leopard movement in Purulia. The big cat might have come from Purulia, which is connected to the Bakadaha range through the forests of Panchet, Simlapal and Ranibandh in Bankura south,” said Singaram Kulandaivel, chief conservator of Forest (Western circle).
“We have laid trap cameras at strategic locations in the probable travel route of the big cat to ascertain whether it came alone or in pairs.
The cameras will be there for 15-20 days. If we find the presence of any more big cats, then the management plan will be taken up accordingly,” Kulandaivel added.
The other probable route may be from Ayodha Hills, Dalma (in Jharkhand) via Katapahari, Belpahari in Jhargram and then from Simlapal, Ranibandh to Bishnupur.
Two years back, when the Forest department made a census of all animals barring elephants and laid nearly 700 camera traps, the existence of the leopard was found nowhere in South Bengal except in the Kotshila forest of Purulia.
The post-mortem revealed that the big cat was a victim of a hit-and-run. Evidence of it being dragged up to 10 feet has been found at the site of the accident.
There were grievous injury marks on the hind legs of the leopard and also on its head. Meanwhile, villagers on Friday spotted marks of some unknown animal at an agricultural land at the Barmura area under Garbeta I block in West Midnapore. The foresters have not ruled out that the pugmarks may be of a leopard. However, due to rainfall, the marks have lost their prominence.
“The distance of Bakadaha Forest from the Barmura area is around 5km. We will tally the pugmarks found at Bakadaha with those of Barmura to ascertain whether it was the same big cat,” said a senior Forest official.