For a month now, an entire city has been living in fear and restrictions because the state, with all its ministries, agencies, tens of thousands of police officers and gendarmerie, cannot find one dangerous black predator. The black leopard, which was first spotted near Shumen on June 19, continues to roam undisturbed, and sightings have been reported from Ruse, Razgrad, while last night it was seen in Varna region, announced Shumen regional governor Katya Ivanova.
Today she held a special briefing regarding the upcoming automobile competition on Saturday and Sunday, which will take place on the Shumen Plateau. Round-the-clock patrols of police officers and foresters will patrol the plateau during the rally due to the threat from the black leopard, which was again spotted at the “Founders of the Bulgarian State” monument on July 17. Today in Shumen, another meeting of the temporary crisis headquarters was held, where additional security measures for the upcoming competition were discussed.
Over 50 competitors will participate in the “Mountain Climb Rally – Shumen,” and the 3-kilometer track is on the Shumen Plateau. Two locations have been designated for spectators – near the “Stakloto” restaurant and near the fountain above the “Borovets” complex, which are also in the plateau area and fall within the black leopard’s “hunting territory.”
The head of Shumen Forestry, Emil Gelev, said they have requested additional teams from neighboring regions and a total of 12 forest rangers will patrol the plateau on Saturday and Sunday, in coordination with the police. The patrols will work in 3 shifts, starting from 7 AM on Saturday and will patrol around the clock the most visited places on the plateau. “If any fan decides to camp overnight in a tent, that’s at their own risk,” Emil Gelev stated.
In fact, over the past month, all Shumen residents have been left “at their own risk” if they decide to visit the plateau, as if they don’t live in an organized territory, but in hunting grounds.
The state responds with letters and phone calls
At the briefing, it became clear that the state, generally speaking, is passing responsibility in the case from department to department, and the Shumen crisis headquarters has been left to save itself. “The headquarters continues to seek help from both ministries and experts with experience in hunting such predators, and we are waiting for the experts to find the appropriate solution,” said regional governor Katya Ivanova. The help from ministries at this stage is a letter stating that “the headquarters’ actions are adequate.” Otherwise, the case has been distributed among several ministries – Environment, Agriculture, Interior Affairs, and the Forest Agency. However, there has been no substantial response from them so far, became clear from Katya Ivanova’s answers.
When asked why she hasn’t declared a state of emergency or mobilized security forces, Ivanova replied that there are no grounds for declaring a state of emergency, despite the predator being a direct threat to people’s lives and businesses. The procedures for escaped animals cannot be applied either – the leopard is a protected species, and the Shumen Plateau is a nature park where hunting is not allowed, the regional governor explained. Thus, in practice, the local headquarters can only install camera traps and wait for a specialist to appear who will locate and capture the leopard.
Apparently, an incident must occur or Shumen residents must get fed up with being hostages to the dangerous animal before the state takes more serious measures.
The leopard has been living undisturbed for a month now, without being bothered by camera traps, phone calls and letters between ministries.
According to the Interior Ministry, the signal about the last encounter with the animal in Shumen has “very high credibility.” Signals about the leopard have been reported from Ruse and Razgrad regions, and last night the predator was spotted in Varna region, Katya Ivanova said.
Many Shumen residents, however, don’t believe the black cat story
The most widespread theories about the case are several. According to some, the leopard doesn’t exist at all and was invented to divert people’s attention from serious problems in the country, such as rising prices, protests, arrests, and the predator “becomes active” during every major public discontent.
Another version is that the leopard was invented to empty the Shumen Plateau so it can be logged, or for the military to “install something” in the area.
The third widespread theory is that the police are covering for the leopard’s owner because he is a businessman with great economic and political influence.
Whatever people may say, the fact is that an entire city has been living in fear for a whole month now, businesses on the plateau are going bankrupt, people are enduring various restrictions, and the state has so far proven helpless to deal with this situation.
