A five-year-old resident of a tea estate in the Nagrakata block of Jalpaiguri had a close shave late on Wednesday evening as a leopard grabbed and took her away from the courtyard of her home, but abandoned her as residents gave it chase.

Pritika Oraon of Kalabari tea estate is currently under treatment at the super-specialty hospital in Malbazar.

Foresters visited the spot and installed a cage on the garden premises to trap the animal.

Since September 2024, this is the fifth incident in the district when a minor was dragged away by a leopard. Pritika, however, happens to be the lone survivor.

“Leopards often stray into tea estates for easy prey such as poultry and cattle. But in recent times, we have found that leopards are attacking people, especially children. Those residing in tea estates and near wildlife habitats should be alert and keep children and elderly people indoors, especially after sundown,” said Vikash V., the divisional forest officer of Jalpaiguri
forest division.

Sources said Pritika had her dinner, told her mother to make her bed and strolled out in the courtyard. There, a leopard jumped in and grabbed her. As the leopard dragged her away, her screams prompted people to chase it with sticks. The panicky leopard left the girl in a bush and ran off.

People rescued Pritika and rushed her to the local health centre from where she was shifted to the hospital.

The DFO said they were mulling consulting experts to prevent such attacks and find out why leopards were attacking people instead of poultry and cattle.

“Tea workers and their families were also asked to keep the cattle in enclosed spaces. It seems there has been a rise in the population of leopards, which is why such cases have increased,” the DFO added.

Jayanta Mondal, the additional divisional forest officer of Jalpaiguri forest division, said they installed CCTV cameras in the garden to monitor the leopard’s activities.

“The residents have been apprised about the dos and don’ts so that they can avert such attacks. They should regularly trim and clean bushes and vegetation coming up near their homes to increase visibility so that leopards can’t hide in them,”
said Mondal.