Machia Safari Park closed for visitors due to leopard’s presence

Jodhpur: The forest department has closed Machia Safari Park for visitors due to the presence of a leopard that the Bishnoi community believes has killed 13 black bucks inside the park. DFO (wildlife) Sarita Kumari said on Wednesday that cameras installed in the park spotted the movement of the leopard in the park and the forest staff also found its pug marks.Kumari said it was implausible that the leopard had killed the 13 black bucks but autopsy reports had said that there were marks of leopard paws and teeth on the black bucks’ bodies. Wildlife activists from the local Bishnoi community staged a demonstration at the park on Wednesday and submitted a memorandum to the department demanding an investigation into the death of the 13 black bucks.Chief conservator of forest (CCF) Raj Kumar Jain said three cages had been installed near enclosures of the antelopes in the park and guards deployed to catch the leopard. “We will install more cages in the park. This is for the first time that a leopard has reached the park. We are searching for it and have decided to shut the park for visitors till it is caught,” Jain said.We also published the following articles recently