Kind attention :
1. The Director General of Police, UP.
2. The Chief Wildlife Warden of UP.
3. The Additional Director, WCCB, New Delhi.
4. Animal Welfare Board of India, Chennai.
5. DM / SSP / DFO of Rae Bareli and SHO concerned.

The ever-rising man-animal conflict took an ugly turn in the state on Friday, when a mob of villagers killed a leopard in Lakhai Kheda, Rae-Bareli.

The leopard, probably around 3-year old, was spotted in the fields on Friday morning and created panic among the villagers. By the time a team of forest department reached the spot, there was already a huge crowd of people gathered at the place. "We got reports that a leopard had attacked quite a few people, " said K K Pandey, DFO, Rae Bareli. At least 11 people were left injured by the big cat with some of them sustaining grievous injuries. A deputy forest ranger also sustained injuries. "There was a big deployment of police to control the situation, " said the DFO.

Despite the efforts to control the situation, police and forest department officers failed to save the leopard. The big cat was killed by a mob. The forest department has lodged an FIR into the matter against unidentified people.

This was the first time that a leopard strayed into Rae Bareli, though there have been sporadic incidents of hyenas entering the area.

Significantly, the village where the leopard was spotted on Friday does not have any forests around. "We have no clue where it came from, " said the DFO. In all likelihood, it might have entered the area from Fatehpur side, said the officer. The chief wildlife warden (CWW) of the state has been informed about the incident. As far as bringing the guilty to book is concerned, it is now the decision of the forest department.
The post-mortem of the leopard was over by Friday evening.

The International Organisation for Animal Protection - OIPA in India moved this open notice to all concerned as per section 55 of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 for strict legal action against all offenders including Wildlife officials guardians of wild animals, who failed to protect this leopard, perform his official duties as well.
Violations of the different sections of the:
1. IPC's.
2. Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
3. Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960.
It is further requested to the AWBI Chairman to look in to for further necessary action against all offenders, OIPA in India demanding that all investigations should be handed over to the Wild Life Crime Control Bureau, New Delhi. Shri Jairam Ramesh, Minister for Environment and Forest also requested to look in to handle human wild animal conflict all over India, as we needs SAVE LEOPARD campaign Nationwide.

Naresh Kadyan,
Representative of the International Organisation for Animal Protection - OIPA in India,
C- 38, Rose Apartment, Prashant Vihar, sector - 14, Rohini, DELHI - 110085.
Mobile - +91-9813010595 Email - [email protected] and [email protected]
Website :
www.oipa.org www.pfaharyana.in