After Bijnor, now locals in Moradabad ‘kill’ leopard

BAREILLY: In yet another incident of man-leopard conflict, a leopard was allegedly killed by villagers under Kanth police station limits of Moradabad district. The big cat’s carcass was found on Wednesday following which forest department has lodged an FIR against unknown villagers for killing the animal.
Notably, at least 80 villagers were booked in neighbouring Bijnor district on Tuesday for reportedly killing a leopard there.
Speaking to TOI on Thursday, divisional forest officer (DFO) of Moradabad Kanhaiya Patel said that the leopard carcass was sent to Bareilly for autopsy. “The postmortem report suggests that the animal succumbed to traumatic shock due to head injury. Besides head, no other injury mark was found on the body. Veterinary experts said the leopard was either struck on the head by a heavy object or it may have sustained head injury after being hit by a vehicle,” the DFO said, adding that “we have lodged an FIR since it cannot be ruled out that the animal was killed by villagers”.
“The case will be clear once police complete its probe whether the animal was hit by a vehicle or attacked by villagers,” Patel also said.
The carcass of the three-year-old adult male leopard weighing 61 kg was first spotted by villagers near Jamuniya Khurd village on the Moradabad-Amroha border on Wednesday morning. A team of forest department rushed to the spot after getting information. SHO Kanth inspector Ajay Gautam also reached the spot with a police team. SHO and forest officials said that this was “a rare occasion when a leopard’s carcass has been found under mysterious circumstances in the district”.