NUAPADA: The leopard roaming near villages adjacent to Sunabeda wildlife sanctuary continued its killing spree by preying on two more calves at Silaribahara in the wee hours of Monday. So far, three livestock have been killed by the leopard in the village.
The two calves are suspected to have ventured into the forest to feast on mahua flowers when they fell prey to the leopard. The half-eaten carcasses of the calves were found just a few metres away from the spot where an ox was killed by the leopard on Sunday. The owner of one of the calves is Sukha Bariha, a resident of nearby Kodopali village.
The leopard has already claimed 12 lives this month including at least six calves and a cow at Powertala and Taria Mahuabhata villages near the sanctuary. It also killed a 65-year-old woman and a calf in Jalmadei village under Soseng gram panchayat.
The killings have left the Forest department clueless on the movement of the big cat. Though pug marks have been spotted at all the places, the footage of the leopard has been captured only on a few occasions on trap cameras installed in the villages.
Blaming villagers for such incidents, divisional forest officer (DFO), Territorial, Sushil Kumar Tripathy said during the mahua harvesting season, it is common for cows to feast on mahua flowers. “Despite frequent warnings about the leopard, the villagers are not tying up their livestock during night due to which these animals go out of the sheds and fall prey to the leopard. We have asked our staff to advise the villagers to ensure their livestock do not move out of their sheds,” he added.