Tingling villagers protest delay in release of compensation for livestock killed by clouded leopard

GANGTOK, 10 Feb: The villagers of Tingling in West Sikkim, who lost livestock to clouded leopard attacks last month, and even assisted the Forest department capture one [which eventually died in transit], have complained that they have still not received their due compensation. The department it may be recalled (as reported on NOW! dated 18 Jan 2010) had assured that compensation would be paid out within 15 days [of the animal having been trapped].
The villagers, while speaking to NOW! yesterday, contended that it was now many days past the deadline, but the compensation is still awaited.
What is more, the Department has neither contacted the villagers, nor the panchayat over the past fortnight to collect details of the claim. With no official enquiry having been undertaken, the villagers wonder when the compensation due to them under Forest laws [for damage caused by wildlife] will be released.
The villagers are also now demanding that the post mortem of the animal be conducted outside the state.
“This demand has been made in order to prove ourselves innocent against the accusation made by the department that the animal died because we [villagers] had beaten it up in captivity,” a villager said while speaking to NOW! over the phone.
“We are agonized and hurt because instead of receiving applause for our feat [of having captured the animal alive] the department has accused us of carelessness in handling the animal when it actually died while under their care [the clouded leopard died while being transported to the Himalayan Zoological Park in Gangtok],” the villager added.
The villagers further inform of another sighting of a clouded leopard in the village a week after the incident and state that they have not informed the Forest department this time as an act of disapproval and disappointment against the way they were indicted in the earlier incident. This clouded leopard has reportedly already killed a goat belonging to one Tej Raj Rai.