Female panther shot dead by forest department team in Udaipur

Jaipur: A team of forest department shot dead a female panther in Udaipur district on suspicion that the wild animal was involved in killing three people over the past 22 days. The residents of Tidi village had been demonstrating since a girl was mauled to death by a panther two days ago.

While the villagers said that it was the right decision to kill the panther, the wild life activists cried foul saying that the animal was shot dead after being tranquilized. She could have been kept in captivity if she was a man eater. The decision to kill the panther was arbitrary as the post-mortem report indicated that the animal had gone without food for the past several days.

Sources said that senior forest department officers ordered to shoot the panther as she was suspected to be behind attack on several people in the village recently killing three of them in the past 22 days. The attacks created panic in the village.  

The panther was about 10 years old. She was first tranquilized by the forest department team and then shot dead.

“We have been trying to locate the panther for the past several days. On Wednesday morning, we were informed that the panther chased a biker following which a team was rushed there. The panther was found hiding in a cave on the nearby hills,” said a senior officer.

As soon as she came out, the team first tranquilized her and shoot her. Her body was sent for a post-mortem examination.