This has happened in Buxa's Goreshwar area. Within half an hour a full grown leopard's meat was distributed amongst villagers. They cooked and ate the meat. There are many cases of eating elephants in the Assam Nagaland border. Rhinos have also been eaten. But most of these incidents took place in the interior of tribal areas. However, devouring a leopard is virtually unknown. The gruesome nature of the incident has rocked everyone from the forest department to animal protection agencies. In civil society, when there are so many campaigns to save big cats, in a state where two natural areas have been designated as World Heritage Sites, a group of students, businessmen and wage earners savouring the meat of a predator!
The incident has its origin yesterday. A leopard entered the Baranagar Banshbari village in the Buxa Goreshwar police station. The animal was resting in a corner. The predator tried to move out of the village but without having an outlet attacked a villager. Then the animal attacked a youth named Durga Kalita and injured his head with a paw and bit him and pressed him to the ground. Thereafter people killed the animal with axes, hoes and bamboo poles.
The villagers did not relent after the animal was dead. The animal was hacked to pieces after the killing. People swarmed in to share and partake of their pound of flesh. Everyone expressed the belief that they would gain strength by eating the animal, including educated youngsters. Within half an hour, the meat, teeth and nails of the animal vanished. Cat specialist Mohammed Firoz Ahmed stated, “This is an unfortunate incident. In a state where we are working so hard to save these animals, this is kind of viciousness is unthinkable. It is easy to blame the police and the forest department. But if villagers display this kind of aggression, it is difficult to tackle." Wildlife Trust of India trustee, Dr Parimal Bhattacharjee said that with the onset of winter, liquor and the festive spirit, animals get hunted. People eat deer and pigs. People are increasingly eating elephants in the state as well as rhinos. But leopards!
What will enhanced enforcement lead to if there is no corresponding heightening of awareness? According to Dr Bhattacharjee, “Once in Narayanpur area, people started eating jackals. The reason being the rumour that they mitigate leg pain. To save these canids, we started a counter campaign saying consuming jackals causes cancer and got expected results. The situation changed after sustained campaigning but yesterday's incident shocks all of us." The forest department has stated, “ An FIR has been lodged against the villagers of Banshbari. The police have stated that efforts are ongoing to track the leopard eaters and on apprehension, they will be arrested.
Source: by Rajibakksha Rakshit, Anandabazar Patrika, Guwahati.
