Published 14:01 IST, February 29th 2020
UP: Leopard enters school, kills a dog; terrified students hide in their classroom
A leopard in school was spotted recently in the Keeratpur village near the Pilibhit Tiger Reserve, where it killed a stray dog and terrified the students.
The city of Pilibhit in Uttar Pradesh is infamous for its constant human-wildlife conflicts. Just recently, students of a school in the small village of Keeratpur were terrified when they had a face to face encounter with a wild leopard. While none of the students were harmed, the leopard did kill a dog in the area.
Leopard kills dog and infiltrates a school ground in Keeratpur Village
The students of the government school in Keeratpur first encountered the leopard when it entered into the school ground through an adjacent field. The leopard then killed a dog and dragged its carcass back to the nearby Barahi forest. The Barahi forest is part of the Pilibhit Tiger Reserve, which is infamous for its poor borders.
The terrified students immediately ran into their classrooms, locked the doors and hid. According to an international news agency, once the principal, Nidhi Diwakar, arrived at the school, she was informed about the incident by her students and she immediately called the forest department. Later, a field team from the department, led by forest inspector Ajmer Yadav, arrived at the school and investigated its premises. They eventually found and photographed pugmarks.
Naveen Khandelwal, the deputy of Pilibhit Tiger Reserve, stated that according to the pugmarks, the leopard was an adult. He also revealed that he had deployed a few armed forest personnel to the school for the safety of the children. He was also hopeful that the leopard would return to the forest in a day or two. Meanwhile, the parents have decided to accompany their children to school.
The reserve holds several big cat species including tigers, leopards and more, and this is not the first time that a wild predator from the reserve had infiltrated human settlements. Just a few weeks ago, a half-eaten body of a 65-year-old villager was found inside the reserve.
Updated 14:01 IST, February 29th 2020