The Three Legged Terror of Santula Busty - Part II

Krupa David

It soon got dark and I knew that it was a waste of time sitting up much longer. I  got down stiffly with all my paraphernalia and trudged back to the village, keeping my gun ready and my flashlight shining in all directions.

My good Ignesh by now had boiled a kerosene tin of water and I had myself a nice wash (although I would have loved a hot soak in my tub back at the Hope Bungalow!) Being a hot evening in May, there was no campfire! However, I forgot to mention the most important item in my kit on such occasions - and that is a bottle of good old XXX Rum!! I poured myself a drink and gave Ignesh his quota in a mug .Two drinks and I was feeling mildly sedated and at peace with the world! However, the thoughts of the little girl and her grieving parents upset me a lot and I determined to get this leopard. The two coir rope charpoys were not the most comfortable of beds, but next I knew was Ignesh standing over me with a hot cup of tea!

It was six a.m. and I was in no hurry to get out of ‘bed’! Ignesh had the fire going and a frying pan sputtered on the flame. We decided to spend the day reconnoitering the country side, hoping against hope to find out a cave or a jumble of rocks where this leopard hung out. As he was so localized I was sure that he had a nice snug hideout.

We had been walking around for about three hours and we had seen no sign of any cave or anything like a hideout. We returned to the village to a lunch of a fiery hot chicken curry and rice that our host had prepared for us!After lunch we packed up our kit and trudged the five km back to the car, having told the villagers to report immediately of any further kills.

The next Sunday, I was back at Santula. No kills were reported during the week as the villagers were on constant alert. I was sure that the leopard would be quite hungry and would not be far from the village. Calves were not allowed to wander around and all school going was stopped as mothers kept their little kids indoors.

That night, Ignesh and I decided to patrol the vicinity of the village in a grid pattern, traversing the numerous cattle and game trails that abounded in the area. It was early June and the rains were in full swing.

Then we had a bit of luck! It must now have been nearly four a.m. and we were very near the village. Ignesh was leading with the flashlight off as it was light enough to see a little now. Turning a corner we nearly stumbled on a leopard that had just walked on to the path. We halted, and Ignesh was very quick; he had the animal pinned down in the powerful beam of the five cell torch. For some reason the leopard halted briefly and looked over his shoulder. I could see him clearly. He was a big male with only one ear, and he had his left paw lifted off the ground. I could see that it was damaged. All this flashed through my senses in a split second and I instinctively aimed at a spot behind his non-existent left ear and pulled the trigger.

There was a ‘click!’ And in a bound the animal jumped into the shrubs bordering the path. It was a misfire! We trudged back to the village, disappointed, and with me cursing my bad luck!  

However, it was established that the leopard was indeed a male, and that it was injured in the front left paw and it was big. Still, I was not clear as to why he never went after bigger game.

We returned to Hope that very morning. I tried my luck subsequently over the next two weeks but completely failed to spot him. There were no further kills reported. Maybe the rifle shot scared him away. Thus I failed to get the 'three legged terror’ of Santula village! However, he met his end in a very strange way.

The Senior Assistant had by now returned from leave, and there was an addition to the family! We were to have a celebration dinner and therefore needed some ‘provisions’. So the evening before we decided to get ourselves some venison. Strictly against the law! However, the Wildlife Act of 1972 was not yet passed and we could take liberties. We set off that night driving down the same Jhoolong Road. About a few kilometers past the Chapramari forest bungalow, we saw the blue eyes of a couple of hog deer on the right side of the road, some 30 yards inside the forest.  My colleague was shining the spotlight and I got out of the car and fired. I saw the hog deer drop, and Ignesh and I walked towards it to drag it in.

All this while, the spot light was focused on the area. As we neared the spot where I thought the deer had dropped, we were suddenly in pitch darkness! Somehow the spot light had gone off. I did not even have a torch in my hand. Suddenly, there was a growl right in front of me and in a reflex action I let loose both barrels! I could hear a bit of thrashing around, and then absolute silence.

My colleague had by then managed to get the light back on. Going forward carefully, we stumbled across the dead hog deer! I sent Ignesh back to the car for a torch, and on his return we cast around for some signs of what I felt was an injured leopard. All we saw was a trail of blood leading off into the scrub. It would have been foolhardy to follow up at night and we returned to the garden with the deer, determined to track the leopard the next day.

Bill Douglas had pushed off on furlough and Dharam Chugh was ‘acting’ for him. It was unfortunately a working day, and I had to cajole Dharam to let me off for a few hours to go and track the injured animal. He very sportingly agreed! Ignesh and I were back at the spot at six a.m. having spent a pretty sleepless night. We readily found the dried blood trail, as it had not rained during this period.

After nearly an hour of slow tracking, we came to a deep rivulet. The leopard was apparently making for water, and sure enough we saw him hunched over at the edge. As I was about to let fly, Ignesh held my hand and stopped me. 

It seemed dead! Its head was under water. It must have collapsed just as it was about to drink. We cautiously walked up to within ten yards and I signaled Ignesh to throw some stones at it. One can never be too cautious. It never moved when a stone struck it on the flank.

Going up to it, we dragged it out of the water, and lo and behold! The 'three legged terror of Santula village’ lay dead at our feet! On examination, the mystery of why it did not go after bigger game was solved. Apart from a badly mangled left front paw which must have got caught in a wire trap, the end of the lower jaw was missing! It seemed that at some time, a lucky shot from a muzzle loader must have blown the end off his lower jaw along with the two incisors. This prevented him grasping his prey, and the mangled front left paw- - sans all flesh and claws -- was useless to him in hunting. He was, to boot, a very old specimen as all his molars were ground down. My double blast with the shot gun had partially caught him in the left shoulder, breaking it. The left leg also had a pellet or two and was broken just above the joint. A few pellets seem to have pierced the chest and damaged the lung. However, with all this he had dragged himself two km to the river finally to succumb.

Later I sent Ignesh back with two of his henchmen to bury the carcass.  As advised by me, Ignesh cut off the ear to be presented to the parents of the little girl, proof of the ‘Terror’s’ demise!