A day after 2 persons were mauled to death by a panther near Sariska forest area, 3 teams equipped with AK-47 assault rifles, pistols and drone cameras continued to track the feline today, even as animal rights activists opposed the shoot-at-sight order to kill the cat.
Late yesterday, the forest department had released a shoot-at-sight order to kill the cat after it killed two persons including a 36-year-old woman and a 50-year-old man.
"Dog squad, drone cameras, AK-47 and live bait have been used. Our priority is to trap the panther. Teams are on the field to track the panther. Activity of big cats increase after sunset so we are hopeful to yield result," Alwar collector Muktanand Agrawal told PTI.
The teams comprising forest department officials and police department including professional snipers have been deployed near water points and habitat areas to track the panther down.
The team is working under the supervision of state's chief wildlife warden and district collector, said Alwar superintendent of police, Rahul Prakash.
On the other hand, shoot-at-sight order to kill the panther has drawn flak from animal rights activists.
State incharge of Peoples for Animal, Babulal Jajoo said that nearly 150 panthers have been killed in Rajasthan in last one year.
Nearly 25 panthers have died in road accidents alone.
Forests are reducing and man-animal conflict is rising.
"Instead of taking corrective measure, releasing shoot-at-sight order is completely dictatorial. We have sympathy with the victims' family members and they should be compensated from CM relief fund," Jajoo added.
Amid protest against the shoot-at-sight order, chief wildlife warden (CWLW) GV Reddy clarified that the panther has not been declared man-eater but is considered to be dangerous to human life and priority is to trap the animal alive.
Meanwhile, amid heavy protest of villagers, funeral rites of panther attack victims were performed following district administration's assurance to provide a compensation of Rs 7 lakh each to the next of kin of deceased.
Yesterday, the panther had killed a 36-year-old woman and a 50-year-old man in villages adjoining Sariska forest area.
Last week, two women were killed by a panther in Raipuria village close to Sariska Forest in Alwar district.
Following the attacks, two panthers were trapped from Sariska forest area and sent to Jaipur, officials said.
Six persons have been mauled to death in panther attacks in Sariska forest area in the recent past.
Meanwhile, State forest and environment minister Gajendra Singh Kheenwsar said that teams are on field to track down the panther alive.
"We will try to investigate the reason behind recent panther attacks. It can be a female panther attacking humans to save her offsprings. It is early to comment whether the panther has turned man-eater," he said.
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