Leopard shot after terrorizing Indian town

[sudesh]

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Mumbai Mirror]
A leopard terrorized the Indian town of Karad Sunday, attacking six people, including one man who it pinned to the ground before being shot by a police officer, according to reports.
The leopard pounced on Hanumant Mane as he walked out of a bar. Officer Vikas Dhas then rushed up and shot the animal at close range, the Mumbai Mirror reported.
The drama began when someone spotted “something that looked like a leopard” on a tin roof of a house.
“I wasn’t sure if I had seen right. I thought it could be a cat or a dog,” one villager told the Mirror.
An Indian police officer shoots a leopard as it attacks a bystander in Karad, Maharashtra, India.
The leopard then made its way into an empty house. But people began throwing rocks inside, leading the leopard to jump out growling.
Anyone nearby was attacked, with the six suffering injuries to their faces, necks and shoulders, the Mirror reported.
Cops arrived and fired shots into the air to try to scare away the leopard. When that didn’t work, they went after it with sticks and stones. But it then attacked Mane, forcing the cop to step in.
“The leopard was on his chest as I closed in on the scene,” Dhas told the Mirror. “I again wielded my lathi, but it growled at me once and grabbed the victim’s neck. That's when I whipped out my service pistol and shot the leopard close to its chest. The only thought that crossed my mind as I pointed my gun at it was to save that man. I didn’t want to kill the leopard.”

http://www.mumbaimirror.com/index.aspx?page=article
http://bigcatnews.blogspot.com/2011/01/ ... ndian.html

S....

[Amit357]

Doesnt look like a REVOLVER,as per as Indian Express photo looked like a 9 MM,think the poor leopard was really beat,otherwise the story would have read," Killer Leopard kills/injures cop in a shootout",these poor cats are so hard pressed for space and the stupid state govt along with the GOI,doesnt have a clue on management of wildlife,give them space too,we inherited the earth together,not just for this stupid human race,ashamed to be a human.
Next they are gonna give the concerned officer a medal ( I dont say if he did the right thing or the wrong one,guess thats all the training they get),no one ever thinks about the poor cats,its a sad day,can someone please mail Mr Bachan,(the Big B) since they were onto a programme about the tigers,N D TVs 1411 left,and please remind them that like the Tiger,the leopard,the Asiatic Lion,and the rest of the wildlife also has to exist,Dont Make it Just 1411 Tigers left,take care of them and blow the rest of the wildlife away

[fantumfan2003]

Amit

+1

Sudesh

May I suggest ...."Leopard shot after being terrorised by humans"

Even the wildlife people said it could have been caged instead of shot.

M.

Doesnt look like a REVOLVER,as per as Indian Express photo looked like a 9 MM,think the poor leopard was really beat,otherwise the story would have read," Killer Leopard kills/injures cop in a shootout",these poor cats are so hard pressed for space and the stupid state govt along with the GOI,doesnt have a clue on management of wildlife,give them space too,we inherited the earth together,not just for this stupid human race,ashamed to be a human.

[Prash.44]

SAD........

[TwoRivers]

Just wondering what Amit and Fantum's remarks would be if they had been in Mane's place?

[aditya mohite]

its in my town saw the leopord

[xl_target]

May I suggest ...."Leopard shot after being terrorised by humans"Even the wildlife people said it could have been caged instead of shot.

..otherwise the story would have read," Killer Leopard kills/injures cop in a shootout"

Its unfortunate that this leopard blundered into a populated area in broad daylight. It's sad that the authorities charged with protecting wildlife are so unprepared and ineffective but suggesting the cop was in any way responsible for any of this mess is going a little far, don't you think?

You guys are serious? Does the life of another human being mean so little to you?
The leopard had a man by the neck and you think that someone should run around trying to find a cage? The cop did the only thing he could have done. He was trying to save a human life. That is one of the things he is supposed to do.

[fantumfan2003]

I dont think its unfortunate that the leopard strayed into an area of that city. Humans are responsible for the plight that wildlife is in today. It may or may not be me or someone else but its humans and their insatiable desire for everything more which is responsible.

I am not holding the cop responsible for shooting the leopard. I guess they all ran out of options. But those who pelted stones at the leopard and tried to hit it with sticks and made him angry are probably responsible.

By the way the man in question, Mane according to the MM report was just walking out of a beer bar (more likely to be a desi daru joint). Its anybody's guess as to what state he was in. The leopard was definitely in a panicky state and he resorted to what any wild animal would have done.

Talking of value of human life, I am sure the valuation has been done by the experten on the matter so lesser said the better.

So what changed ? One less leopard ? Who cares anyway ? They will all go in a row.....Tiger, Lion, Leopard, Blah...Blah...Blah.....and finally humans....

M.

May I suggest ...."Leopard shot after being terrorised by humans"Even the wildlife people said it could have been caged instead of shot.

..otherwise the story would have read," Killer Leopard kills/injures cop in a shootout"

Its unfortunate that this leopard blundered into a populated area in broad daylight. It's sad that the authorities charged with protecting wildlife are so unprepared and ineffective but suggesting the cop was in any way responsible for any of this mess is going a little far, don't you think?

You guys are serious? Does the life of another human being mean so little to you?
The leopard had a man by the neck and you think that someone should run around trying to find a cage? The cop did the only thing he could have done. He was trying to save a human life. That is one of the things he is supposed to do.

-- Wed Jan 12, 2011 8:43 --

I am wondering what the leopard must have remarked about all those humans around him. Surely nothing good...

I am not a fanatic when it comes to my love for animals. I do believe in use of force but only after all the intelligent options have been exhausted. Humans are proud about being the most intelligent animal on earth. Aren't they ?

I did'nt see any intelligence at work there in that town. Did anyone else ?

M.

Just wondering what Amit and Fantum's remarks would be if they had been in Mane's place?

-- Wed Jan 12, 2011 9:00 --

Some more details have emerged.....

http://www.mumbaimirror.com/article/2/2 ... ooked.html

http://www.punemirror.in/article/2/2011 ... ouble.html

Mane's saviour is now being targeted by the very machinery he is part of.....THIS is bad......Really bad....

M.

[essdee1972]

The cop did only what he has been trained and conditioned to do - use the lathi, if that does not work, pull out the service sidearm and shoot. He had no choice in the matter (he had to save the other guy, drunk or otherwise), and should not be punished by his bosses.

The real onus is on the people who saw the leopard and started chucking stones at it. Mob mentality at work (ref Shakespeare's Julius Caesar). For God's sake, this is a leopard, not a puny little stray dog, which will run away at your stones. And even puny little stray dogs have been known to turn around and fight. Cornered rats, anyone??

Ok, there's a leopard on the roof, so what do you do? RUN inside your house, screaming blue murder, call the cops, fire brigade, army, whatever... Do not chuck stones at it!!! If it had been bandits or terrorists instead of a poor malnourished feline, the people would have done exactly that.

But our "humanity" shows up in its true colours only when we have a helpless (seemingly) victim near at hand. I remember, when I was five or six, witnessing a whole litter of kittens (kittens, not lion cubs) bludgeoned to death by our neighbours, because the poor little fellows disturbed a good night's sleep!!!! Cried for days, I did.

Poor leopard, RIP!

[Rajat]

The cop did only what he has been trained and conditioned to do - use the lathi, if that does not work, pull out the service sidearm and shoot. He had no choice in the matter (he had to save the other guy, drunk or otherwise), and should not be punished by his bosses.

The real onus is on the people who saw the leopard and started chucking stones at it. Mob mentality at work (ref Shakespeare's Julius Caesar). For God's sake, this is a leopard, not a puny little stray dog, which will run away at your stones. And even puny little stray dogs have been known to turn around and fight. Cornered rats, anyone??

Ok, there's a leopard on the roof, so what do you do? RUN inside your house, screaming blue murder, call the cops, fire brigade, army, whatever... Do not chuck stones at it!!! If it had been bandits or terrorists instead of a poor malnourished feline, the people would have done exactly that.

Makes sense I would say.

[Amit357]

Hi Two Rs,leopards,black bears do stray in my farm a cpl of times.saw a leopard last weekend sitting next to my gate,had my shotgun/Rifle with me,could have taken out the poor guy if i wanted to,a decade back a leopard strayed into a friends house in my hometown,his kids were getting ready to go to school,and the cat broke a screen door and was in the house,we called the Wildlife Deptt,and they took it away in a cage after tranquillizing it,Boss i have been a wildlife warden for 4 years seen enough,this cat is more dangerous then the tiger, people armed with sticks and whatever they can get there hands on form this lynch mob in my great country,and for the lack of sense corner these cats and then there is trouble,we have driven back a number of cats back to the jungle,without any damage to us or the cat.I dont know about the human vs cat/bear encounters in US,but here there is always grief,either for the cat or the humans,
XL,your query on how cheap is human life in India,boss there are 1.2 Billion of us,we lose about 1.5 million per year in traffic accidents,another 500 Ks in train and other tranport related deaths,5-7 million to various aliments (we still lose people to Malaria and other vector borne ailments)----------YA HUMAN LIFE IS CHEAPEST COMMODITY IN INDIA

[TwoRivers]

Amit: If a hungry leopard comes into your village looking for a meal, you'd probably be concerned and try to drive it out, with sticks and stones, since you have nothing else, before it decides to make a meal of someones young child. I don't think the response time for the "proper authorities" would be but a (very) few minutes. Tranquilizers take a while, provided some one is on scene to administer them. Trying to cage a leopard that hasn't been tranquilized, would be a feat I'd like to watch, from a safe distance. Given the circumstances as presented, regardless of what version, the police did the right thing, there was no other choice. Unless the leopard was a tame escaped pet. BTW, my degree is in wildlife management.
Now, if we value the life of one leopard above the life of a man, regardless of how many of us there are (way too many), shouldn't we do the honorable thing, take our clothes off and walk into the jungle and sacrifice ourselves to the predators that can, and will, eat us? Or is self-preservation rule one for all life?

[sudesh]

Amit: If a hungry leopard comes into your village looking for a meal, you'd probably be concerned and try to drive it out, with sticks and stones, since you have nothing else, before it decides to make a meal of someones young child. I don't think the response time for the "proper authorities" would be but a (very) few minutes. Tranquilizers take a while, provided some one is on scene to administer them. Trying to cage a leopard that hasn't been tranquilized, would be a feat I'd like to watch, from a safe distance. Given the circumstances as presented, regardless of what version, the police did the right thing, there was no other choice. Unless the leopard was a tame escaped pet. BTW, my degree is in wildlife management.
Now, if we value the life of one leopard above the life of a man, regardless of how many of us there are (way too many), shouldn't we do the honorable thing, take our clothes off and walk into the jungle and sacrifice ourselves to the predators that can, and will, eat us? Or is self-preservation rule one for all life?

[fantumfan2003]

TwoRivers,

The police probably did the right thing but the people in that town definitely did the wrong thing.

A hungry leopard does not stray into a locality bordering a forest, looking to feast on a man child....
Most of the time he is after dogs, which are attracted to garbage, created by humans. This is how more than 15 leopards have been apprehended, pronounced maneaters and imprisoned for life in the SGNP in Mumbai. At least four died (including a pregnant female who miscarried) when some of them were being transported to other forests/parts of the state. What will you call that ? Whatever suits you.....

If people had left the leopard alone in that empty house, the wild life people could have taken their sweet time to arrive on scene and cage it. A similar incident took place in Mumbai itself (juvenile leopard entered a bungalow bordering SGNP) and it was caged with relative ease by the forest dept.

I'd say one is bonkers to go in harms way. I know many instances where either leopard or trekkers jumped each other in the jungle and the trekkers parted ways and stayed out of harms way. Its a known fact that around SGNP leopards attack human prey who go squatting in the jungles (they do have public toilets built for them by the politicians but they don't want to take the ownership of keeping them clean, but that's a story for another day and debate). Leopard finds them at his eye height, mistakes them for prey (his nose and ears are more sharper than his eyes) and attacks. Then people scream MANEATER.

In this present case I guess the leopard was pushed to a point of no return and attacked people, people attacked him in the first place. Since one of the forumers here is from the same place, lets try and find out if this was the first time that a feline strayed into the area ??? Or its a regular event ?

Talking of walking naked into jungles offering ourselves to the predators.... Please note the leopard strayed into an area where people lived. Probably due to hunger and meant no harm to any humans.....

M.

Amit: If a hungry leopard comes into your village looking for a meal, you'd probably be concerned and try to drive it out, with sticks and stones, since you have nothing else, before it decides to make a meal of someones young child. I don't think the response time for the "proper authorities" would be but a (very) few minutes. Tranquilizers take a while, provided some one is on scene to administer them. Trying to cage a leopard that hasn't been tranquilized, would be a feat I'd like to watch, from a safe distance. Given the circumstances as presented, regardless of what version, the police did the right thing, there was no other choice. Unless the leopard was a tame escaped pet. BTW, my degree is in wildlife management.
Now, if we value the life of one leopard above the life of a man, regardless of how many of us there are (way too many), shouldn't we do the honorable thing, take our clothes off and walk into the jungle and sacrifice ourselves to the predators that can, and will, eat us? Or is self-preservation rule one for all life?

-- Thu Jan 13, 2011 19:47 --

What do you agree with ? Walking naked into the jungle ???? The animals and birds there will say.....

Shame Shame Puppy Shame

to you........



M.

Amit: If a hungry leopard comes into your village looking for a meal, you'd probably be concerned and try to drive it out, with sticks and stones, since you have nothing else, before it decides to make a meal of someones young child. I don't think the response time for the "proper authorities" would be but a (very) few minutes. Tranquilizers take a while, provided some one is on scene to administer them. Trying to cage a leopard that hasn't been tranquilized, would be a feat I'd like to watch, from a safe distance. Given the circumstances as presented, regardless of what version, the police did the right thing, there was no other choice. Unless the leopard was a tame escaped pet. BTW, my degree is in wildlife management.
Now, if we value the life of one leopard above the life of a man, regardless of how many of us there are (way too many), shouldn't we do the honorable thing, take our clothes off and walk into the jungle and sacrifice ourselves to the predators that can, and will, eat us? Or is self-preservation rule one for all life?

[essdee1972]

Two more leopards added to the score today (read in ToI Mumbai edition, could not find it on the website, hence cannot paste link).

One in Faridabad, murdered by a bloodthirsty mob in the presence of DM, SP, and other sarkari honchos, who were presumably exhibiting their expertise in inaction, as usual.

Another in Orissa.

In both cases, the leopard seemingly injured someone (please note injured, not killed. Probably the poor cat was trying to run away and these people came in the way), and the people went searching for it, for "revenge".

Why don't people go hunt terrorists for revenge? Taking on AQ with sticks and stones!

"Second to none in courage" was what Corbett wrote about the leopard (I forget the rest). Wonder if a mob with hockey sticks would have been more effective against the Rudraprayag leopard than the good Colonel with all his rifles, traps, etc.

Sorry, my spotted friends. Rest in Peace.