Two leopards have been seen roaming a tea garden in India just across the border from Baliadangi in Thakurgaon. Local people spotted the animals on Friday morning (13 November) in the garden on the far bank of the Nagar River, opposite Shubhanpara and Mondolpara in Dhantala union, and the sighting has alarmed people living along the border.
According to witnesses and local sources, a local teenager, Zubayer Al Amin, first saw the two leopards in the tea garden that morning and photographed them on his mobile phone. When the pictures spread on social media, crowds of curious people gathered in the border area to see them.
Residents fear that, with wide tea gardens and scrub on the other side, the leopards could cross the Nagar River into Bangladeshi villages in search of food or to breed. In late August 2020 a crocodile surfacing in the Nagar River along the border in Baliadangi and Haripur caused much discussion, and recently there have been reports of hyena attacks and sightings of pangolins and nilgai in parts of Baliadangi.
Abdul Hakim, officer in charge of Baliadangi police station, said the police knew of the sighting and the forest department had confirmed it. "Two leopards have been seen on Indian territory across the Nagar River. We are monitoring the situation, and the forest department is on alert," said Haripada Debnath, Thakurgaon district forest officer.
The local administration has asked people living along the border to take extra care when crossing the Nagar River or moving near it.
This report is based on a story by the Dhaka Tribune desk. The photograph shows an Indian leopard; it is not from this sighting.
Photo: Jenis patel / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Source: Dhaka Tribune
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