A rare trap has been discovered at the height of 8300 feet in the foot hills of Shivalik,which was built to hunt down the tigers and leopards. About hundred years back created this stone trap is called “Arad” in the local language. This rare structure made out of stones consists of a narrow tunnel of 4 meters. One end of the tunnel is covered with a rock leaving just little space in the front.

Here the poachers used to tie some lamb or dog as bait. As soon as the Tiger used to enter inside the tunnel to hunt the prey, it used to get trapped inside.  And the poachers used to kill the trapped tiger inside the stone structure. Hundreds years back when there were no guns available.This was one the best, most common and efficient mean of hunting the carnivores like tigers and leopards. This trap found in Himachal Pradesh is definitely a silent witness of the hunt of many leopards.

This mountain height is conducive to pastoral nomads who spend their summer with their cattle like sheep and buffaloes. These nomads might have created this structure for the protection of their cattle from the leopards. There is also a believe that some people practice the worship of Goddess Kali and some perform black magic and voodoos while sitting  on the skin of dead tigers and leopard. This reveals yet another reason for the hunting of these carnivores. This is not the only structure discovered, many other traps can be found in this area. The forest conservative officer Dr. Suresh Kumar expressed his surprised over the existence of these structures and have ordered to destroy the stone traps of this kind so that they can’t be misused by anyone ever again.