Fifth dead leopard found near Manesar
This is the fifth incident of a leopard's body being found in the area in the past seven to eight months. Earlier, a leopard was found dead under mysterious circumstances in ITC classic golf course in April this year. During the investigation, wildlife department officials had stumbled upon three more leopard carcasses.
Gurgaon forest department officials have found the body of a 12-year-old leopard in Sehrawan village on NH-8 near Manesar.
Officials said it could be a case of road accident because the big cat's body bore several injuries including multiple injuries on the head and spine. The gender of the leopard was not known till the filing of this report.
Officials believed a heavy truck may have crushed the animal. "After being hit by a speeding vehicle(s), the animal possibly dragged itself to the nearby Aravalli forest but must have collapsed after 200m from the main road. The body was found by some villagers in the bushes," said Ghanshyam Shukla, conservator of wildlife Gurgaon range.
This is the fifth incident of a leopard's body being found in the area in the past seven to eight months. Earlier, a leopard was found dead under mysterious circumstances in ITC classic golf course in April this year. During the investigation, wildlife department officials had stumbled upon three more leopard carcasses.
In the latest case, officials said, the autopsy revealed the big cat died due to multiple bone fractures. The animal's spine, front and rear legs were found fractured apart from severe head injuries. Excessive internal bleeding was also mentioned in the postmortem report, an official said.
"We have constituted a team of experts to investigate and a panel of three doctors for the post-mortem examination," Shukla said.
Meanwhile, wildlife activists have raised eyebrows over the leopard deaths. They suspect something is going on in Aravalli forest range.
"One of the big reasons of leopard coming on the roads could indicate towards encroachment taking place in Aravalli forest. A large number of farmhouses have come up in the den of wild animals, proving to be a security threat for them. Wild animals generally come on the main road in search of water," said wildlife activist B.N. Lal.