The forest department has captured eight leopards in Bahraich district of Uttar Pradesh since September 30.

Straying out of the Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary, many of them had attacked humans. Locals staying along the Kakahara range of the forest had formed teams to keep round-the-clock vigil in the villages.

Forest ranger Dharmendra Kannaujia said: “We had placed a cage outside Gangapur village, where the leopards were attacking humans every now and then. An eight-year-old leopard was trapped in it on Tuesday night.”

The first leopard was caught in Dharampur village on September 30 and another in Sujauli the next day. The department caught two more in Ayodhyapuri on October 3 and October 17.

One each was trapped in Pachasa, Bejha and Pakariya on October 4, October 20 and October 22, respectively. The villages are close to the Kakahara range and are spread across 4km.

Although the forest department said the leopards had been released back into the forests, Bhupendra Singh, a villager in Bejha, said: “At least two leopards attacked humans and injured them. The village teams saved them or they would have
been killed.”

B. Shiva Shankar, the divisional forest officer of Katarniaghat, said: “The forest is 550sqkm and there are 150 to 200 leopards. This space is not enough for so many leopards.”

A leopard requires 200sqkm to roam and generally doesn’t stray far in normal conditions. “We have released the leopards in the Trans Gerua range because human habitation is 30-40km away,” the officer told reporters.