The death of a leopard in the Indian border area of Panchagarh has left people confused about what really happened. To investigate the incident further, a three-member team from the Wildlife Crime Control Unit in Dhaka visited the spot on the afternoon of Saturday, 3 February.

The team's head, Wildlife Crime Control Unit inspector Ashim Mallik, spoke to eyewitnesses and other local people and collected the samples needed. The other two members are wildlife scouts from the same unit, Sanjoy Bandh and Jasim Sheikh.

A visit on Saturday afternoon to the Nagar river area of the Darkhor border in Toria union of Atwari upazila found local people still frightened. Since the leopard's body was recovered, however, they have been giving different accounts. Some say the leopard was already weak and sick. On seeing it in the Nagar river at the border, local people caught it with sticks and nets, and it was found dead after being pulled out of the river.

Others say that last Sunday a cow belonging to a local man, Alam Islam, was killed by a wild animal. Angry at the cow's death, Alam's younger son mixed poison (Furadan) into the carcass. The leopard fell ill on Thursday after eating the meat of that cow and stayed by the river bank, and local people later retrieved it with a net.

Alam Islam's wife, Moyna Begum, said: "One of my cows died last Sunday. I don't know whether it was attacked by a tiger or a fox. But my younger son said, 'Mother, we have suffered such a big loss, I will kill it too.' I heard that he then put a little Furadan poison in the cow. I don't know whether the leopard died from eating the poison, or from falling ill in the cold, or for some other reason."

Local farmer Abdul Jabbar said he went over on hearing the shouting when the leopard was spotted. "I saw the leopard sitting there, and even when we came close it could not move properly. We covered it with a net. When it started moving, I held it firmly wrapped in the net with a stick. Then the leopard seemed to die and was sinking in the river. We then brought it onto land, tied its four legs to a bamboo pole and carried it out."

Ashim Mallik, inspector of the Wildlife Crime Control Unit at Bon Bhaban in Dhaka, said the team came to investigate on the advice of higher authorities. "We have spoken to many local people, including the eyewitness Moynuddin. Some of them said the leopard fell ill after eating the meat of the dead cow, which had been laced with poison bait. Others say the leopard was hit with sticks while it was being caught. Perhaps it was struck on the head and sank under the water. It was then wrapped in a net and brought out. Having come here, we are sure that a leopard has been killed here and that many people were involved."

He said the team collected samples from the leopard's body and from the net used to retrieve it for special tests. Whether the leopard died from poison bait or from human blows can only be confirmed later.

Forest Department staff recovered the leopard's body from the bank of the Nagar river in the Darkhor area of Atwari upazila, on the Indian border, on Friday morning. After a preliminary post-mortem at the Atwari upazila livestock office, the body was sent to the Bangabandhu Bridge regional museum in Tangail. The Atwari upazila administration immediately formed a three-member investigation committee headed by the upazila livestock officer.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.