The Child Eater Of Terai

[Shootist43]

Poton, that was another very interesting and informative story. As was stated previously, the four of you did a lot of good. There is no telling how many lives you guys saved.

 

[DieJager]

I was already wondering which type of leopard it was, saw that the skin was rather small with a different patern. Thank you Major for another great tale.

 

[Ridgewalker]

Fascinating! A job well done sir!
All of the cat species are amazing!

 

[Major Khan]

A fine story just like all of your other writings , Major . We used to have these fiends wreaking great havoc in Jolpaiguri , as well . We refer to them , as “ Baagh Dhasha “ . Like miniature buzz saws, they are. Extremely devastating on goats and chickens . I have seen these fiends attack small children on a few occasions , as well .
Speaking of Antora ( May She Rest In Peace ) , I heard from Newaz and his wife that Antora killed a “ Baagh Dhasha “ as well with a shot gun , loaded with an AAA buckshot cartridge . Is that really true ? AAA for a “Baagh Dhasha “seems a little light , wouldn’t you say ? An Eley Alphamax 2 3/4 inch LG cartridge ( which holds eight pellets of .36 caliber ) seems like a much better choice by my reckoning , if buck shot is to be used on these fiends , at all .

I actually forgot what the local name for these brutes was in West Bengal , Panther Shooter . Thank you so much for reminding me that the appropriate word is " Baagh Dhasha " .
Kareem and Amira are correct about Antora . However , this statement needs to be expanded upon , a little bit . Yes , Antora used her father's BRNO Model ZP 149 side by side shot gun to kill a " Baagh Dhasha " . It was of 12 Bore calibre , with 2.75 inch chambers , automatic ejectors and 28 inches long barrels ( A fully choked left and an improved modified choked right . ) . And she did kill it with a 2.75 inch AAA cartridge at extremely close range ( 5 paces . ) . However , she was not using British AAA cartridges . She was using American AAA cartridges . American AAA is considerably larger in pellet size , than British AAA . The cartridge was a Winchester " Super X " which held 34 copper plated pellets in it .
Antora preferred not to use LG cartridges , because the American AAA cartridges had more pellets in it . The whole idea was to get a spread when Kawshik's Nepalese gun bearer conducted a beat in order to drive the " Baagh Dhasha " towards Antora . Also , fully choked ( fixed choke ) shot gun barrels are more likely to bulge , if LG cartridges are fired through them .
I was backing her up with my " Old Belgian " , which was loaded with my hand loaded Eley 3 inch Alphamax magnum " High Brass " spherical ball cartridges that day ... in case anything went awry .

 

[Major Khan]

Dear Major,

i wanted to ask, how come that rozzetes are so uncommon on this leopard, but you have already answered this: clouded leopard.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clouded_leopard

So, once again, I learn from you for leopard subspecies, forest leopard, village leopard, and this time I learned of clouded leopard. Also noted well, specifies type - black panther, iconic leopard!

Dear Major, Panther Shooter, Kawshik Rahman, Capt Nwz,

i went there to investigate men eating leopard fatality rate on local population.
from wikipedia, several notorius leopards were recorded:

- Leopard of Panar, calimed 400 lives (!!!)
- Leopard of central provinces, 150 lives
- Leopard of Rudraprayag, 125 lives
- Leopard of Gollis range, 100 lives
- Leopard of the Mulher Valley, 30 lives
- Leopard of Kahani: cca 100 lives
- Leopard of Punanai 12 lives

Many of man eaters mentioned by your friends and yourself here, are not even noted in various public media, until you joined this forum.

If, we asume that men eating leopard, before being put down in average mauls 20 people, I am wondering how many lives have been saved by your friends and yourself, 4 excellent shikarees!

Well done, gentlemen, well done! I dont think I can say more then that, to all 4 of you!

Thank you so much for your appreciative words , Mark Hunter . As much as I am glad that we all saved human lives ... The truth ( speaking only for myself ) is that I greatly enjoy panther shooting and I personally consider it to be the most thrilling sport of ALL time .
On the subject of the clouded leopard ... I deliberately wanted to give all of you gentlemen a little bit of suspense until the climax of the article , where I made the revelation that the Child Eater Of Terai was actually a clouded leopard .. I would have considered it to be an absolute privilege to guide such a fine gentle man as yourself ... on a panther shikar some day. Ah , if only I had met all of you fine gentle men 50 years ago . But still... Better late than never .

 

[Major Khan]

Wonderfull story (again), Mayor Kahn.
Thank you.

I am glad that you have enjoyed this reminiscence on mine , Bull Hunter .

 

[Major Khan]

I have been wondering....
You have taken many cats from a hole in the ground, and from a "Macchan". Did those methods ever fail?

Oh , yes ! More than once , Pert Time . This invariably necessitated a follow up , on my part .
I have written 2 articles describing these kinds of situations on African Hunting Forums , previously .
They are titled :
> " The Very 1st Time That I Ever Attempted To Hunt A Panther " .
and
> " The Urban Man Eater "

In 1968 ... I personally experienced 1 VERY BAD DAY when EVERYTHING went wrong . The man eating forest panther actually FELL RIGHT IN TO the hole , which I was using as a hiding spot .
What ensued next... deserves to be the subject of a future article of mine ( Perhaps , my very next article ? ) .
Of course , nowadays I look back at that incident and I laugh . However , it was a fairly hair raising experience at the time .

 

[Brent in Az]

Fascinating story. It has to be a good feeling to dispatch the Panther so quickly, instead of spending many days trying to sort out the beasts travel patterns and nocturnal activities.

 

[WebleyGreene455]

I do not mean to flatter you , Webley . But your analytical skills are DEADLY as always . You have a tendency to always think outside the box and look at all of the contributing factors behind any particular set of circumstances . You picked up on some thing quite early on , which I do not reveal until the end of the article. As you shall discover by the time you finish reading the climax of this article .... after this particular shikar was over , I found myself wondering the exact same thing . No doubt the panther was a depraved 1 , which had to be dispatched , in order to prevent it from attacking any more children . However , the question which arises in my mind is this :
Did the children who died , die as a result of their injuries becoming septic from the panther's claws ? Or did those children die , as a result of their injuries becoming septic after the villagers " Treated " their wounds with cow urine ?

As always, I accept the compliment from a practician to an academic. I'm quite sure it was a mix of both, and unfortunately neither we nor those villagers will ever know. I have long had the dismaying thought that India is a nation with a space program nearly as old as the US Space Program yet in parts of the country there are still people who are... Let us say "distrustful", if not merely ignorant, of the benefits of modern plumbing and medicine.

I'm glad to read that this story had a fairly happy ending at the time and look forward to your next one.

 

[Major Khan]

Poton, that was another very interesting and informative story. As was stated previously, the four of you did a lot of good. There is no telling how many lives you guys saved.

Thank you so much for enjoying my latest article , my friend . By the way ... You would not happen to possess load data for a calibre named .264 Winchester by any chance now , would you ?

 

[Major Khan]

I was already wondering which type of leopard it was, saw that the skin was rather small with a different patern. Thank you Major for another great tale.

It is my utmost privilege that you have enjoyed this article , Die Jager . I actually wanted to keep all of you gentle men in suspense until I made the grand revelation at the end ... that the culprit was in fact , a clouded leopard and not an ordinary forest panther .

 

[Major Khan]

Fascinating! A job well done sir!
All of the cat species are amazing!

I know , Ridge Walker ! Hunting panthers is my favorite sport of ALL TIME . I personally consider that nothing can even remotely come close to panther hunting , in terms of excitement .
Of course , I may feel differently after I go on my African safari and shoot my very 1st lion , if the Lord be willing .

 

[Brent in Az]

How large can those clouded Leopards get?

 

[Major Khan]

How large can those clouded Leopards get?

This 1 was exceptionally large and heavy for a male Clouded Leopard or " Baagh Dhasha " , Brent . It had a nose to tail length of 4 feet and 5 inches . It weighed 52 pounds .

 

[Major Khan]

Thank you for another well written report. Even more importantly thank you for saving the lives of many children! I am proud to know you. Your friend, Brian

I am mighty pleased that you have enjoyed my article , Brian . I personally consider it to be an utmost privilege to have made friends with such an affable and kind hearted gentle man , as yourself . And you and Old Tobin both hail from Wisconsin.

 

[Wyatt Smith]

Thank you so much for enjoying my latest article , my friend . By the way ... You would not happen to possess load data for a calibre named .264 Winchester by any chance now , would you ?

Did you acquire one major?

 

[Malambo]

Dear Mr. Major Khan,
Thank you very much for sharing this fascinating story. Congratulations on the tactic and achievement. Is so rewarding to me to read your articles, so fine written. Please carry on writting and sharing more of your memories.
Best regards

 

[Shootist43]

Poton, sometime in the near future I'd like to read the story of Antora's leopard hunt from beginning to end. From what I have learned about her she wasn't a woman to let the guys get one up on her.

 

[Shootist43]

Poton I sent you a load for the 264 Win Mag via PM.

 

[gillettehunter]

Wikipedia says they average 25-51 lbs so this was indeed a large one. Congrats on making a plan and successfully killing that cat. Very pretty hide and I'm sure you are happy to have it. Great story as always.
Bruce