Four farmers injured in leopardess attack in Bijnor

BIJNOR: A leopardess attacked four farmers in a sugarcane field at Bavanpur village of Bijnor district in Uttar Pradesh on Thursday, hours after a leopard died in the area.
The injured were identified as Ravindra Kumar, Mangu Singh, Dharmendra, and Sitaram. After the incident, the forest department sounded an alert in the area and set cameras and cages to trap the feline.According to sources within the department, the leopardess was camping with the leopard in the area and she turned aggressive after the latter’s death.
Gyan Singh, sub-divisional forest officer, said, “We had a tip-off that two leopards were camping in a sugarcane field and one attacked four farmers working there. We rushed to the scene and inspected the place where the incident took place. We found pugmarks of two big cats. When we combed the area, a male leopard's carcass was found in the cane field. The injured have been admitted to hospital for treatment where their condition is said to be out of danger.”
Meanwhile, locals alleged that the leopardess was sitting next to the leopard’s carcass, and the leopard had been killed by someone, but officials denied the claim.
“There are no injury marks on the body of the leopard. It might have died 12 hours back. We are sending the carcass to IVRI Bareilly for post-mortem to ascertain the cause of its death. A case has been registered under the Wildlife Protection Act and a probe is on. People have been appealed to take precautions while venturing into the fields,” Singh added.