Leopards Attack And Kill Two Children Within Hours

KEY POINTS

The forest officer said the attacks may have been carried out by two leopards
Villagers were able to locate the half-eaten bodies of the children the next day
Forest officials are planning to lay traps and capture the leopards

Two children in neighboring villages were attacked and killed by two different leopards within hours in India Monday night.

The attacks took place in two villages that share boundaries with the Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary (KWS) in the state of Uttar Pradesh.

The first leopard dragged nine-year-old Ramtej Kishan into the forest at around 6 p.m. from outside his house where he was playing.

Distressed villagers were searching the area near the forest when news of another leopard attack at a neighboring village reached them. A four-year-old boy, Aditya, who was visiting his relatives at the time, had been dragged into the forest around 7: 45 p.m, Hindustan Times reported.

Soon, forest officials and police joined the search. After searching for hours, the group found Kishan’s partially eaten body in a cane field. Aditya’s head was recovered a mile away from the location of the attack.

"It appears that there were two different leopards behind the attack. We have collected the pug marks and are trying to match the samples," Divisional Forest Officer of Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary Akashdeep Wadhawan told Times of India. "The locals have been advised not to allow their children to venture out when dark."

Officials with the forest department and a police team have been deployed to the villages to prevent further attacks.

"We are combing the area and have placed cages in both the villages. Efforts are being made to ensure that such incidents don’t get repeated," Wadhawan said. The children’s bodies have been sent for autopsy.

According to the WWF executive officer, Dabeer Hasan, the victims’ families have been compensated for the tragedy. The forest department is set to provide further assistance.

Meanwhile, the forest department is planning to trap the two felines by installing cages around the forest.

Human-animal conflict near protected forests, sanctuaries and wildlife reserves is on the rise in India. In November last year, a 10-year-old in Madhya Pradesh was playing with his friends when a leopard attacked and killed him.