Hmmm... interesting political subtopic you've tossed in there. Wonder how far this 1-child debate will now go because of your tangent?

I have heard that India will have a larger population then China within 10 years.

Besides, even with that 1 child limit, China has a population of over 2 billion people. Doesn't seem to be all that effective.

As I read your post it stuck me that it is a strange thing to say. Almost always a wild animal that attack humans is put down so that it does not kill or attack again. You place the well being of the animal over humans.

If people don't like deforestation then they should put a stop to it. You don't let a predator that's killed humans run wild though. Once a predator kills a human they're going to do it again. The next victim could be anyone, including a conservationist.

A leopard that wandered into a city in eastern India went on a rampage

I'd pissed too with all of the habitat that has been destroyed by India's burgeoning population

flbikerchick,

Get your facts straight. China's population is about 1.34 billion. It is easy to check that one.

@1.3 -- China's population was 1.34 billion in 2010, up from 1.3 billion in 2005 and from 1.0 billion in 1982. I would say their one-child policy has been very effective in restraining population growth. India has about 1 billion people and yes, they are expected to eventually surpass China...by 2030.

This may seem like a tangential discussion to some, but I think human population control directly relates to the destruction of wildlife natural habitats. Leopards do not normally make a habit of invading urban areas in search of food, unless conditions in their natural habitat have pushed them to hunger-driven desperation.

It is a beautiful animal, but it should have been put down. It obviously seems to have lost the instinct to run and hide as would be expected. It is way too dangerous to be reintroduced to anyplace people would ever venture.

ChrisWanker - ignoring the policital subtopic, I have to agree with DanPat. I am fanatically pro-life, but the biggest threat to life on this planet is the overpopulation of the human species. Between the religious nutballs who think everyone should keep popping out babies, and the overpopulation in India, China, and parts of Africa, we are killing the planet. If the planet wants to fight back now and then, it's ok with me!

lets see YOU run and hide in the crowded areas of India.

Ummm, seems even leopards don't like lawyers.

Lunatic: wrong...check the stats again and do some research. Worldwide, population has leveled off and is even decreasing. This is a ludicrous subject to throw onto a wild animal attack...

As a fan of "Western Movies", I had to look at the article. Never would I have thought to see an Indian getting scalped. Yes, I do know they are different "Indians".

Well, the Leopard is a beautiful and vicious animal. It see's people as "food," if not, it sees a competitor or an invader if its territory (Although I'm not sure if it's a territorial animal.) It's good that the animal wasn't put down, in actuality, its no more dangerous than a wild ape or any other wild predator. It should be released far from people, just hope the people don't continue to come close to it.

I had one of my Dane's scalp me; took over 300 stitches total to get it all back together; it's been 3 months, and there's still pain, some dead areas, some that itch...... I've new respect (or sympathy now) for people that go through this, as the initial pain is bad but the long recovery process is not part of the story. It takes down the entire body, constant fatigue, 2ndary problems..... I feel for this guy.

My little man was a different story, he just kind of lost it for a moment (less than 20 seconds); wild or not, I'm not sure what would drive this animal to attack for a prolonged period, person after person. They're usually hit and run, get out of the situation and place... perhaps this animal has been through an ordeal or two with humans? Just seems out of character, as energy conservation is a priority for top predators, reserved for feeding and not random fighting.

Chris Wanker - Wonder how far this 1-child debate will now go because of your tangent?

One sentence is not a tangent. The poster's remarks are completely logical and make total sense to me.

AP1414, your quote " Lunatic: wrong...check the stats again and do some research. Worldwide, population has leveled off and is even decreasing."

Worldwide population is NOT decreasing, it is increasing by unsustainable numbers, especially in third world areas. The population rate is not growing as fast, but the actual amount of humans on this planet is growing very quickly. This is also a terrible way to grow, because their is an inversion of the educated, the less educated are breeding at a rate that is causing the uneducated to grow at a rate that will tax the rest of the planets resources at an unsustainable rate.

from WIKI

"Current projections show a continued increase in population (but a steady decline in the population growth rate), with the global population expected to reach between 7.5 and 10.5 billion by 2050

The article clearly states the leopard was cornered and provoked. Wouldn't you want to scalp the schmuck chasing you with a metal pole?
And the article clearly states it was not going to be released in the wild. It will be a wildlife park 120 away from the city.

Leopards are territorial. They also generally don't attack people as they are reclusive and prefer to hide. The story states that people cornered the animal and threatened the animal so of COURSE he's going to lash out. Even a domestic dog or cat will lash out if cornered and threatened. If we put the leopard to death for reacting the way nature intended him to react to a threat then we should also put to death those people who cornered and threatened the leopard since THEY made a bad situation WORSE. I have a feeling if they hadn't cornered it and probably tried to hit it with things (like the metal rod that someone was waving around as he chased after the leopard) then the wounds and deaths may not have happened. You do NOT want to challenge a predator if you come face to face with one. You WILL generally lose.

India and China with 2 bn people have less crime and less (almost no) wars waged on the rest of the world. They have existed somehow more than 5000 years as cultures and civilizations.

For those who are afraid of India and China's rise, I wish they wished population control for war mongers.

Somehow I do not find it funny or intelligent to make snyde remarks on India and its population and poverty etc. It shows the culture and sensitivity or lack thereof of posters.

Est. number of leopards in India: 14,000.

Increase in Indian human population per day: 45,000.

Good luck, leopards.

the world's population will be around 10,000,000 by the year 2020, right AP. damn you are beyond

hellastupid!

Someone forgot to use their "Perfect Paws" pet nail trimmer! That's a BAAAAD kittty!

PJ17, your quote "India and China with 2 bn people have less crime and less (almost no) wars waged on the rest of the world. They have existed somehow more than 5000 years as cultures and civilizations.

For those who are afraid of India and China's rise, I wish they wished population control for war mongers.

Somehow I do not find it funny or intelligent to make snide remarks on India and its population and poverty etc. It shows the culture and sensitivity or lack thereof of posters."

PJ, the government of China has waged war against it's own people for centuries. India is just now dealing with it's ability to provide clean water and sewer services to 65% of it's country. The most pressing problem in India is clean drinking water. India is pure third world, and if you'd been there you'd know that. China's masses are just coming into the early 20th century, despite it's huge cities, the majority live in rural areas which are very much third world. Existence PJ is just that, existence, that doesn't not mean flourishing and educated. To even put India and China as "paragons" of virtuous societies is a gross characterization of reality. You don't know squat about either country, because you haven't been there. When you do your opinion will have changed.

I agree on the warmongering, we never learn a thing. Peace now, Afghanistan, your on your own.

mozzie-600,

The article is about a leopard attacking someone in India. Not China... Thus that one sentence is a tangent!

A life is a life, no matter how you look at it! To say that that leopard should be put down is to say that every person in this world who commits murder should be put down and if that's the direction you want to go with this then I'll jump on board but do not condemn an animal who's natural habitat has been whittled down to nothing. Look at it this way, if you wouldn't be willing to walk around unarmed and by your self in a jungle, rain forest, the outback, the African desserts or where the f@~k ever, then why the hell would you want to set up shop next door only to complain every time an animal strikes; doing only what it is born to do! And on that note, lets just euthanize every murderer in the world as well and I'm sure we could slow the natural progression of life on our planet for at least a few days; that should make some of you idiots happy!

"Get your facts straight. China's population is about 1.34 billion. It is easy to check that one."

Technically speaking, there are more Indians than Chinese in that part of Asia. If we ignore the land divides made through religion and politics, make a total of the Indians in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, we already have over 1.5 billion Indians and counting. No? :-)

JCB India was the second richest if not the richest country in the world as recently as 100 years back. In fact as recent as 1950, the richest person in the world was Nizam - an Indian.

As per education - Astronomy & Mathematics were invented in India. The decimal system we use today is Indian.

India's problems are temporary. They are already fading away. So when you get time descend down from your civilizational pedestal. India is the mother of civilizations. Without India there wouldn't be many European languages in existence. And we would still be counting only upto a few thousands using Roman numerals.

"India's problems are temporary"

LOL, if you consider a 150 years temporary. The decimal system has gone the way of the steam engine PJ. They can't even feed themselves PJ, and if you'd been to India in that last decade you'd have a clue pal.

LoL ... your existence and opinions are more temporary and fickle ... I agree.

Poverty is a relative concept. You keep measuring your "Advanced" state of economy by how unaffordable cars and TVs and houses you can pile up.

Poverty could also be an artificial concept. But hey your lifespan and time is probably measured by the lifecyle of a butterfly. So may be that all discussion will be useless to you.

The poster's remarks are completely logical and make total sense to me.

They were hateful and racist, and they have been reported. Americans destroy far more habitat due to our penchant for living 30 miles from work so our kids won't have to--gasp--go to school with black people, We pave over previous green areas in order tro do so, and we drive everywhere thanks to an unsustainable lifestyle that we chose ourselves. If you really want to save the planet, sell your car and McMansion and move to a big city, like where I live. Recycle and freecycle everything including your clothes and furnitue. A family of seven in Mumbai probably consumes less than YOU do all by yourself.

A human being was attacked by a wild animal. I doubt the leopard was making a political statement.

If we ignore the land divides made through religion and politics, make a total of the Indians in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, we already have over 1.5 billion Indians and counting. No? :-)

Your point? There's a lot of Europens in Europe, too.

A life is a life, no matter how you look at it! To say that that leopard should be put down is to say that every person in this world who commits murder should be put down and if that's the direction you want to go with this then I'll jump on board but do not condemn an animal who's natural habitat has been whittled down to nothing.

Why do self-proclaimed animal lovers hate human beings so much? Leopards are beautiful, but they really aren't all that important in the grand scheme of things. No large, showy, popular species really is; it's things like seaweed that matter more since they produce oxygen. If leopards went extinct except for a few zoos and preserves, the world would survive. Every leopard on earth isn't equal the life of ONE human being.

BTW, are you a strict vegan? If not, you are a killer. Even people who only eat eggs are killers since half of all chicks are useless males; they are often ground up or buried alive upon hatching.

OomYaaqub....and your point is???? I love animals too and maybe it is because people are so stupid. We ARE part of the food chain. We just have gotten very good at protecting ourselves, BUT it doesn't make us any better than any other species on the planet. Many on this post got it right...If I was being followed by an unruly mob, having my space whittled down to nothing, and was being chased by a creature wielding a metal rod...I dont know...I think I would try to protect myself. You need to to rethink your arrogant stance on the "equality of life" . Actually Im not sure you "think" at all...you're kind of an idiot.

michelle-I say more than kind of...

Nicely put retort BTW.

Michelle, you do know that personal attacks are a COH violation, don't you? Reported.

It's obvious what I'm saying. People are more important than animals and since we all must exploit animals to live, PETA extremists are hypocritial jerks. The leopard attacked several people who are worth just as much as you even if they happen to have darker skin. It will always be a danger to people.

SB,

I also saw the rings on that mans right hand. I believe that is what they call a Mr.T starter kit:)

i think what is missing shows the speed of that swipe.

At SB and schoolyard, those are brass knuckles. That's how they roll on the mean streets of India, word up!!

There is the ever so slight chance that the photographer was shocked at what he was seeing and forgot to press the button for a half a second. You know, he had an actual Human reaction, not "show me the video".

Looking at the first picture, it appears that the scalp was already sheered from the skull but was laying flat. You can see just the barest hint of the underside of the scalp flap in the first picture.

stomach a little weak today?

animal not zoo bound... according to the story

The article stated the leopard was released some 100 miles away, but I was wondering if that is actually far enough away from "civilization?"

The Leopards were there long before the people of India took their habitat. I say, "go Leopard."

If one were to kill all the leopards and tigers that would kill a man when stressed, there wouldn't be a single cat left. Glad to hear they released it into the wild. The Indians know more about this than those who live in areas without these big cats.

I don't know what makes you think a leopard owns land and has a right to enforce property rights through lethal force. How do you even know that leopards were there first? Are you just parroting that from someone else or have you actually bothered to trace human lineage in that area? I'm not convinced that our ape ancestors weren't there before leopards, so please enlighten me and provide a link as proof. Though I think that as a rule giving a piece of land to whatever species lived their first is a dumb idea.

Reasonable, the article cleary, and truthfully, states that man is encroaching on their habitat. We don't live in Leopard habitat for obvious reasons. Our ape ancestors built places away from Leopards and the wilds for again, very obvious reasons. Are you retarded?

@ Kent

Once again, how have you determined that it's "their" habitat? Why exactly do you believe those leopards have ownership rights that they're entitled to enforce through lethal force without threat of retaliation by humans?

Resonable, the Leopards didn't build a city where the humans were living. End of story.

Reasonable,

You keep saying why is it the Leopards land? Well, why does the land belong to humans? Is it because we said so or someone bought it? Is it because we are the more advanced race (which is debatable on some aspects), is it because we are allowed to take whatever we want or maybe its because there are more of us than them so we win? Your argument does not make any more sense than anyone who says the opposite so don't sound so holier than thou. I, for one, am glad they are relocating the cat somewhere rather than put them down. The thing wasn't eating people so it was probably more scared than anything. Oh, and what gives us the right to use lethal force on animals to enforce our property rights?? Not a PETA person or anything, just using your logic.

I have the same sentiment about military people, don't you? Like you said, once a people killer, ALWAYS a people killer!

@ Ben

People are using the ownership argument to try to justify what isn't justifiable. The fact is leopards don't own the land and there's no reason why we should allow them to kill people on said land. Even if you want to say that humans don't own it either then where does that get us other than that humans and leopards may coexist on the land since neither owns it. The leopard has already killed one human and attacked several others and thereby demonstrated that it can't coexist on the land. Experience shows that once a leopard has attacked and killed a human it's just going to kill it again. Therefore, we should do to the leopard what we'd do to any human who's killed another human, and that is lock it up or kill it. The leopard should not be turned loose so that it can kill again.

And how many leopards have humans killed? Maybe we should lock them all up or kill them/never let

them out so they can kill again.

Sorry, un-Reasonable. Yer in the minority on this one, and probably on most subjects. There's too many @!$%#ing people in India, they're encroaching on the animal's shrinking habitat by their overpopulated cities, and occasionally some animals will wander in the wrong direction. If you read the article, it clearly states that the leopard was provoked by an unruly crowd of idiots lacking the common sense to walk or run in the opposite direction of an animal that can take half your head off in one swipe. My guess is you would have been among them. Unprovoked, the animal more than likely would have gotten his bearings and wandered away back into the forest. Leopard in 2012!

What a load of BS. Climb back under your rock, but take a few books on ecology along with you. You might learn something while you're down there about how ecosystems function.

And when all of the wilds are gone and the ecosystem is crushed we'll all perish as well. Good riddance to humans and long live Mother Earth. Soon enough, we'll all be choking on our own waste because of population overload. The Earth is ruled by no one but Earth herself and when she gets angry, she lets us all know.

I think we should conserve land. Though I prefer what you're saying to the nonsense espoused by the hippies on here who like it when predators kill humans.

The earth needs balance coexistence and harmony not waste, destruction and domination.

Resonable, hippies? Really? How about rationalists or more pointedly, realists? Man is a foolish, selfish, destructive creature and has been for thousands of years. Get a clue before typing anything else today.

middletownwoman. you are an ignorant moron. Human beings do dominate the earth, and as such are responsible for all its problems. Sure go ahead and blame the beasts that god also put on this seart

@ Kent

Humans aren't perfect but we're less foolish and self destructive than leopards. I don't see why allowing a creature that's dumber and more savage than humans to kill us is the solution to our problems.

Reasonable - you silly.

Reasonable and Middletownman seem certifiable.

"The earth is ruled by humans, not animals. They must make room for us, not the opposite. Turn it into a nice coat for the guy who lost his scalp."

Rules by Humans? Because the population of Humans is SERIOUSLY out of control? Because Humans can't control their own over population? Because Humans have changed, destroyed, trashed, polluted, poisoned, fenced, took possession of, the sea, the air, the sky, the land???

Are you proud of that or something? I can't walk 1 fricking block without seeing man made trash laying on the ground. Bottles and cans, fast food wrappers, tires, tire treads, paper and plastic bags, on and on and on.

What have we ruled this planet into? A giant trash filled spinning heap of a planet that is over populated with the Human race. We share this planet with others. We are all earthlings. So if we are so smart, and so noble, and so wise, etc. Why do we expect, demand all these animals that WE share this planet with, to submit to our ways?

And Reasonable - or not so in my book:

We're less foolish and self destructive than Leopards? Human words that only should be tagged to Humans. To a wild animal they mean nothing. As the OVER population of Humans continues to over take and smother the planet - The Human animal moves into areas they don't belong. Wild animals live there. But we take it over with our vehicles, our guns, and snares, and traps, and poisons. Okey dokey!

People were chasing that wild animal around, making the situation worse, and the leopard is to blame? Why is that? Because it fought back? If you were surrounded by numerous people, some with their own weapons, what would you do? fight back, or lay down and take a good beating?

Humans are the most foolish, arrogant, selfish, greedy, idiotic species on this planet.

When was the last time you saw a wild animal cleaning a gun, only to drop the gun, have it shoot a bullet out, and end up taking a girls life? Or the Navy seal who was SHOWING OFF, and ended up shooting himself in the head. People getting drunk and laying down in the road. "planking" on a 2 or 3 story apt house balcony railing.

A man in Clifton, Colorado apparently got so caught up in his "Tomb Raider" computer game that he forgot he wasn't supposed to use a real gun. Sheriff's deputies confiscated Douglas Miller's shotgun after he fired it at his computer screen.

The Chico, California, City Council enacted a ban on nuclear weapons, setting a $500 fine for anyone detonating one within city limits.

A company trying to continue its five-year perfect safety record showed its workers a film aimed at encouraging the use of safety goggles on the job. According to Industrial Machinery News, the film's depiction of gory industrial accidents was so graphic that twenty-five workers suffered minor injuries in their rush to leave the screening room. Thirteen others fainted, and one man required seven stitches after he cut his head falling off a chair while watching the film.

A bus carrying five passengers was hit by a car in St. Louis, but by the time police arrived on the scene, fourteen pedestrians had boarded the bus and had begun to complain of whiplash injuries and back pain.

A doctor in Nairobi successfully removed a bean lodged in a young girl's ear. According to the Daily Nation, when her parents told him they didn't have enough to pay his bill, the doctor "grabbed the child and forced the bean back into her ear..."

George Moscatello, 47, of Woodside, N.Y., was camping in a remote area of the Northwest Territories when he heard "some pitter-patter sounds" outside his tent. Thinking it might be wolves, he loaded his gun and activated an emergency locator signal that is supposed to be used only for air and sea emergencies. Authorities launched a search and rescue aircraft, whose mission cost $12,000. Moscatello, an inexperienced camper who had already burned part of his tent after a mishap with his propane heater, told rescuers he was investigating the legend of Bigfoot.

The FBI announced it is looking for Enca Sandra Kay, 47, who had four husbands at the same time. Kay was born Eddie James Mundell and deserted from the Marine Corps nearly 30 years ago, according to FBI agent Tim Coakley, who said Mundell underwent a sex change operation two years later and changed his name.

Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, the spiritual leader of Israel's Shas political party, decreed that any woman who wears a wig to a synagogue is damned. "Both she and her wig will burn in hell," Yosef said. Yosef also told followers that, contrary to popular belief, it is permissible to pick one's nose on the Sabbath.

How do you feel about humans taking the habitats of wild animals? If this, if that. If you were there, you would have been next, tough guy.

You could say any animal has taken some other animal's habitat. Don't leopards steal the habitat of the animals they prey on? Not to mention leopards fight each other and other predators over territory and are more than happy to chase another leopard or predator off a piece of land if they're able to. You don't sound rational in the way you're assigning territories or habitats. I agree that we should conserve land but setting a predator that's killed human(s) free isn't the way to do it. Experience tells us that once these animals have killed and attacked humans they're going to do it again. No one else should have to die just because you have an irrational view of ownership. And if forced to choose I'd save a human life over an animal life any day of the week.

Leopards do what they do out of instinct. Man does what they do out of complete selfishness and the need to dominate. We could be the stewards of this planet but instead, we are the rapists.

I would have shot and killed the thing. To all you people saying "Im glad they didnt kill it" how do you feel about it killing people, thats okay? If I were there and had my gun on me that would have been a rug by my fireplace.

Right, because you're so experienced in urban big cat hunting. I have no feelings either way about their treatment of the leopard, but killing it doesn't solve the problem. How many dangerous animals wandering into the city will it take to realize you shouldn't be building cities where dangerous animals live?

@ Kent

Leopards are selfish and have a need to dominate. I don't think it matters whether this is instinctive or not, though I think this is just as instinctual in humans as it is in leopards. At least we have higher level reasoning to help reign in some of this antisocial behavior. For the most part a leopard has little to no moral compass. You are really making me think less of animal rights hippies.

To Reasonable-3328533: Not sure but I think human moral compasses are in the dirt here! The following is from another article: "For the record the city put up its worst show: thousands of people crowded the street at Silpukhuri surging forward to catch a glimpse of the animal which, cornered and threatened and hounded by the crowd, was willing to attack anyone in its path. Every time it turned, the crowd would fall back and then go forward again. Except for the maddening crowd, nothing moved--no vehicles, no TV crew, no police, no zoo officials." Sit for a minute and close your eyes and envision this situation. NO ANIMAL, cat or otherwise, would be able to stand that kind of situation. I'm surprised the cat didn't do a WHOLE LOT WORSE! But the people are to blame here, as you can see!

Reasonable, we obviously DON'T have a higher reasoning level or people would not have cornered the animal and threatened it (I would assume with weapons and that they were hitting the leopard before it TOUCHED a single human). If we actually had higher reasoning levels, we would understand that we need a variety of animals and plants in order to make this ecosystem work. We need plant eaters to "crop" and "prune" which allows for healthier vegetation (the source of our oxygen). We need meat eaters and omnivores to curb the population of the plant eaters. We happen to be omnivores - and ANIMALS. Also, if we had higher reasoning abilities we would not be making idiotic statements like "how do you know the leopards were there first" and statements indicating a lack of understanding that leopards kill primarily for the one of same reasons we do - to EAT.

Reasonable - How DARE you profane those of us with actual common sense and uninflated egos as 'HIPPIES'! Why, I never! That hurts me to the core! What are you, 70?

How many dangerous animals wandering into the city will it take to realize you shouldn't be building cities where dangerous animals live?

Dangerous wild animals like coyotes have been seen in downtown Chicago. Exactly where should cities be? And please don't say there should BE no cities since urban living is actually much more environmentally sustainable.

Unleash the Leopards in the White House and Congress.

huh?

This proves that the leopard was not trying to KILL (if he had been then he would have gone for the back of the neck to cut the spinal cord) but was probably simply trying to get away from the people.

Mike you are scary and sad.

sharktopussie, you scare me far more. Suppose your child was attacked?

Really? If your child is dumb enough to chase a leopard with a metal rod then its probably in EVERYONES best intrest that it gets mauled and then eaten by any wild animal.

These people live in India. Wild animals are an everyday part of life. Hell, I live in Florida and we have to deal with alligators and bears and PANTHERS. Why do you ignoramuses think that because YOUR insignifcant life might possibly come into jeopardy, maybe a 2% chance in a developed country, that every animal that isnt domesticated should be trapped and put in a zoo or euthanized?

Humans brought their development,filth,pollution,and rubbish to these animals' territory. So don't bitch and moan when people that antaognize an enormous and adult sized big cat get attacked. Too bad.

Besides, one of these animals is worth about ten of you uneducated, lazy, overweight fools.

At least he scalped a lawyer and not a truly poor person.

If you are religious, then the bear eating the baby would all be a part of God's plan, right? Therefore, go Bears.

that's a very brave attitude for someone who likely lives on the other side of the ocean away from the scene.

would you feel the same way if a big bear came up and ate your neighbors new born baby? save the bear? it's own territory?

I think you did not interpret the intent of his post. There is no reason to hunt down and kill the leopard after the fact. If the leopard were killed in self-defense or the defense of a victim during the attack, that is one thing. Hunting it down for retribution is another entirely. What does that solve?

I agree, but consider what the learned behavior will be once it sees anoyther human. People messed with this and caused it, but sadly the cat will be designated dangerous now because it might associate the next person it sees with the ones it tangled with before. Sucks all around.