Reflections

  This is a continuation of the last post on the leopards that have taken to killing humans in the Nagrakata area of the Dooars . That post can be read here.   One of the tea gardens in the area where parts appear to be not maintained. According to locals, this sort of landscape harbours leopards Some sort of change took place in 2019. That year, in this Nagrakata region, there were six major attacks by leopards, three of them led to deaths. The deaths were mainly of children; leopards are leery of attacking adults except when startled. There was a scare at this unnatural increase, but the Covid epidemic intervened, human movement ceased over large parts of the landscape and the scare died away. But since October 2025, there has been a recurrence of deaths. Four deaths over a period of about twelve months have occurred and these deaths have some features that do not fit into the ‘normal’ encounters which as I said earlier mainly occur because of unexpected encounters. The...

The Indian Leopard (from www.greenverz.com ) The Dooars , derived from the word "duar," meaning doorway, serves as the gateway to Bhutan and the northeastern Himalayas , stretching across the foothills of the eastern Himalayas in North Bengal . This enchanting region spans from the Teesta River in the west to the Sankosh River in the east, encompassing parts of Jalpaiguri , Alipurduar , and Cooch Behar districts . Characterized by gently undulating terrain, rich alluvial soil, and a network of rivers and streams, the Dooars is a fertile floodplain that supports lush vegetation and vibrant biodiversity. Geographically, the region lies between the Himalayan foothills and the Brahmaputra basin , creating a transitional zone that blends montane and tropical ecosystems. The climate is humid and subtropical, with heavy monsoon rainfall nurturing dense forests and verdant tea gardens . These forests are part of the Eastern Himalayan biodiversity hotspot and include protected ar...