Lone leopard terrorises Hatton estate, evades capture
A lone leopard has set off panic in the tea plantations in Hatton and disrupted work, with efforts by Wildlife officials to capture the animal drawing a blank.
The hunt for the animal was launched on Tuesday. Wildlife officials on Thursday set a trap in the Panmore estate located off the Dickoya-Hatton road. But the animal has not shown up in the area since then.
Villagers say they have not had a proper night's sleep since Tuesday. The animal was seen on Tuesday when it attacked a dog. Seven tea pluckers were mauled by the animal when they tried to save the dog. They have been warded at the Nawalapitiya hospital.
Villagers have faulted the Wildlife Department for its failure to capture the animal. Estate workers have informed the plantation company management that they were unable to report for work as they are scared of venturing out.
They say that in the past, too, leopards had appeared in the area and frightened the villagers.
The Wildlife Department said it had sent officials from Maskeliya, Nuwara Eliya and Uda Walawe offices.
Veterinarian B. Vijitha expressed doubts that the animal could be captured, as it was unlikely to return to an area where it had encountered some disturbance to its movements.
"It seems that the same animal may not return to the area, but we cannot rule out the possibility of another lepoard coming to the area," he said.
Dr. Vijitha said they were not left with many options. If the animal was captured, it should be taken to a Wet-zone forest in the central part of the country and released.
Estimates vary as to the leopard population in Sri Lanka. Some studies say there are upto 250, but others put it between 750 and 950. In 2008, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) listed the Sri Lankan leopard as endangered.
The breeding patterns of leopards who frequent Dunumadala Oya area, in the Hantane region would be under threat if land in this ares is taken for commercial enterprise, an environmental lawyer in Kandy has warned.
Kandy Lawyers Environment Forum president and Kandy Bar Association secretary Shantha Ratnayake said these leopards come down from Horton plains from December to March to this area for breeding purposes.
Stressing that these leopards are endemic to Sri Lanka and have to be protected, Mr, Ratnayake pointed out that a number of environment organisations have urged the Government include this area in the Hantane Environment Gazette as there are a couple of privately-owned lands. He however claims that the land that encircles the Dunumadala Oya was demarcated by the ancient kings as a forest reserve.
The water from this Oya was used to supply water to Kandy town before a water project was built during the time of Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike.