Blog Archives

Punani: From man-eating leopard to a place of serene beauty-By Callistus Davy Source:Sundayobserver Image Source:Sundayobserver Just before sunset, planter and hunter Shelton Agar, a Britisher, peered through the bushes in a scrub jungle close to the Punani-Batticaloa road bordering the historic ancient city of Polonnaruwa waiting for his target, a notorious man-eating leopard that killed and ate an estimated 20 people. It was somewhere in August 1924 when Agar who eliminated several rogue elephants in the Batticaloa district sat by the remains of what was said to be the last human victim, a postal peon named Manikkam who was on his way home when the man eater of Punani followed concealed in the bushes and sprang on him in a perfect leopard ambush. End of leopard terror Agar had noticed the big cat a few metres away and fired his rifle only to miss. But a few days later the ...