Pilibhit : Contrary to the widely held belief and wildlife studies that the noise of firecrackers and bright lights scare away wild animals, a 12-year-old Class 5 student was attacked and killed by a stray leopard while children were bursting crackers and homes were illuminated with lamps at Jamunabad village, located barely a kilometre from Gola forest range under South Kheri forest division in Uttar Pradesh .
A joint team of forest and police personnel recovered his partially devoured body 150 m from his house on Monday morning following a night-long search. The fatal attack is the second in South Kheri division within 12 days. On Oct 26, an eight-year-old boy was mauled to death near his doorstep in nearby Bakhshpurva village while returning from his father’s grocery shop.
The leopard emerged from an adjoining sugarcane field, seized the boy and dragged him away. The incident has raised serious questions among experts about whether leopards are losing their innate aversion to loud sounds and artificial light, becoming increasingly habituated and immune to traditional scare tactics as human populations encroach on their domain. Local wildlife experts emphasised that changing environmental conditions are driving these bold predatory behaviours. Ayyub Gazi, a volunteer with Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) and an eyewitness to the incident, noted that the boy was standing at his doorstep while neighbourhood children were actively setting off crackers nearby when the big cat struck without hesitation.