Leopard safari in Siliguri temporarily shut down after attack on staff

Darjeeling: The leopard safari in Siliguri has been temporarily shut down after a staff was attacked by a leopard.

The incident occurred at around 4 pm on Wednesday. Surinder Pal, along with Santey Thapa had gone into the safari on a routine drive. Surinder is the driver of the monitoring vehicle.

Inside the safari, Pal had got down from the vehicle when the leopard attacked him. Sachin, the male leopard pounced on him from behind and bit his neck. He then fell on the ground as the leopard continued to maul him.

Thapa somehow managed to free him from the clutches of the leopard and dragged him into the vehicle. He was then rushed to Siliguri hospital and was referred to North Bengal Medical College and Hospital.

Pal has a broken collar bone along with heavy injuries on his neck, chest and hands. However, his condition is reported to be stable.

"We are investigating. As soon as Pal recovers we will question him as to why he got down from the vehicle. The leopard safari is temporarily closed for a few days. We have kept Sachin, the leopard, under observation but there nothing unusual in his behavior pattern has been reported," stated Arun Mukherjee.

Sourav and Sachin are two male leopards those have been brought to Bengal Safari in June this year. They were caught from Satali Tea Estate in Alipurduar. They were then kept in the tiger and leopard rescue center in South Khayerbari in Jalpaiguri.

The Bengal Safari, a brainchild of CM Mamata Banerjee was inaugurated in 2016. It is spread over an area of 200-hectare.