Archive · 12 Aug 2026
50 Leopards Caught, 500 UP Villages Still on Edge
Leopards are big, spotted wild cats.
In a part of India called Uttar Pradesh, leopards have been coming close to villages.
Forest workers caught 50 leopards in eight months.
But people are still scared because the leopards keep coming back.
Many of these leopards are born in huge sugarcane fields, not in forests.
The leopards have attacked people, and sadly two people died.
Villagers are told to be careful and not go to the fields alone.
They are also told to keep their homes lit at night and carry torches.
Forest workers have set up cages and use drones to find the leopards.
Everyone is working hard to keep the villages safe.
Forest officials captured 50 leopards in Bijnor, Uttar Pradesh, over the past eight months, yet fresh sightings continue.
Nearly 500 villages across Bijnor and Moradabad remain on edge, with two people killed and at least a dozen injured in the last two weeks.
Officials say the leopards are born in vast sugarcane fields, earning them the local moniker 'sugarcane leopards.'
Bijnor's District Magistrate says wild-animal incidents have decreased this year, while Moradabad reports one death and around seven attacks on humans.
Precautionary measures include cages, thermal-imaging drones, patrols, and advice for farmers to work in groups and avoid fields at night.
- Who
- Residents of nearly 500 villages in Uttar Pradesh's Bijnor and Moradabad districts, along with forest officials and district administrations.
- What
- A surge in leopard sightings and attacks despite 50 leopards being captured, with two deaths and at least a dozen injuries in the last two weeks.
- When
- Over the past eight months, with deaths reported on August 3 and two leopards captured in Moradabad on August 10 and 11.
- Where
- Bijnor and Moradabad districts in Uttar Pradesh, near the Uttarakhand border and the Ramganga river.
- Why
- Officials suspect lower rainfall and villagers' regular movement into sugarcane fields, where leopards are born, may be linked to the surge.
- Leopards captured
- 50 in Bijnor over the past eight months
- Affected villages
- Nearly 500 across Bijnor and Moradabad
- Deaths (last two weeks)
- 2 - eight-year-old Ravi in Signiwala village and Santosh Devi (45) in Lalapur Pepalsana
- Injured (last two weeks)
- At least 12; latest attacks injured Pushpendra (22) and Tasleem (52)
- Hotspot areas
- Thakurdwara and Kanth (Moradabad); Chandpur and Nagina (Bijnor)
- Cages installed
- Nearly 100 in Bijnor; 16 in Moradabad
- Suspected cause
- Lower rainfall; leopards born in sugarcane fields
- Surveillance coverage
- About 400 villages in Bijnor; about 150 villages affected in Moradabad