Leopard locked overnight in poultry shed in Sangameshwar leaps out, injures woman
A leopard that entered a poultry shed in Kondye Suvarewadi and was shut in overnight killed all the hens and injured a woman as it fled when the door was opened.
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A leopard that was shut inside a poultry shed overnight at Kondye Suvarewadi in Sangameshwar taluka of Ratnagiri district bolted out when the door was opened the next day and injured a woman.
There is a stone shed near the Suvare family's house. As on any other evening, the hens went inside and the door was closed from outside. A leopard had slipped into the shed unnoticed before the door was shut, and nobody suspected it. The leopard remained locked in the shed through the night and killed all the hens inside. The family did not get the slightest hint of it.
The next day, around noon, Meena Dhondu Suvare went to open the door to let the hens out, as she did every day. When the door opened, she found a leopard crouching inside, desperate to get out, in place of the hens.
As soon as the door opened, the leopard leapt straight out and ran towards the forest. In the rush, its claw struck Meena's face and she was injured. She narrowly escaped with her life as the leopard did not attack again.
Local people rushed the injured Meena Suvare to the Funagus primary health centre, where doctors gave her the necessary treatment.
News of the incident spread quickly and the villagers were shaken, with an atmosphere of fear in the whole of the wadi. With wild animals moving more often around cattle sheds and fields, the safety of farmers and women has become a serious concern. Villagers are strongly demanding that the forest department immediately set up a cage and step up patrolling so that such incidents do not recur.
Leopards have spread considerable fear in some districts of Konkan, and people live in dread as the animals are repeatedly sighted in residential areas. Meanwhile, a leopard was again sighted in the Sadavali-Sahyadri Nagar area of Devrukh in Ratnagiri district. Early on the morning of October 10, a leopard was seen prowling in front of the house of local resident Bhai Shinde. The scene was captured on a CCTV camera installed outside the house.
