CANACONA
Residents in different parts of Canacona have expressed alarm after wildcats have been attacking domestic animals in recent times.
CCTV footage had recently captured a leopard entering the verandah at a house in Agonda and pouncing on a dog tied to a chain. Inmates in the house were awoken by the noise of the dog and opened the door, only to find the leopard disappearing into the darkness.
Elsewhere in Agonda, Kisan Dessai said wildcats have taken away his pet dogs for the third time in the last two years.
“One night, I allowed my dog to walk around the courtyard. The dog was barely 5 metres outside the courtyard, when a leopard pounced on it and took it away,” said Dessai.
Barely half a kilometre away, Savio Fernandes had a similar story to narrate.
“Five of our pet dogs have been taken away by leopards in the last one-and-half year alone. We are now forced to keep the dogs inside our house, otherwise they too will be killed by the wildcats,” said Fernandes, who has a pack of dogs as companions.
While locals admit that the wildcats have, so far, only attacked domesticated animals, they are afraid that humans could soon be the target of such attacks.
Recently in Khola, leopard which was chasing a dog entered a residential house. While the dog managed to escape, the leopard got trapped in a room after a woman in the house closed the door. Forest guards then took about four hours to rescue the leopard from the house.
In another incident Khola a few years ago, an injured leopard had entered a hut in the middle of the night and almost attacked an elderly woman. The woman managed to escape, but the leopard remained in the room till forest guards rescued the animal in a 5-hour operation.
