Leopard kills 3-year-old in Uttarakhand

A leopard mauled a three-year-old boy to death after snatching him from the lap of his mother at a village in Uttarakhand on Saturday morning. The child was attacked when his mother was breastfeeding him in the courtyard of their home, Berinag forest range officer Jagdish Joshi said. The leopard left the child after dragging him to nearly 250 metres as it was chased away by the villagers, Joshi said. 

READ | WHERE'S SNOWY?: Netizens Struggle To Find The Snow Leopard In Wildlife Photographer's Photo Of The Jungle Cat Camouflaged In Spiti Valley

The boy, Naitik Kark, was rushed to a hospital nearby where doctors declared him dead, he said. "A cage has been installed in the village and patrolling intensified," the range officer said. 

This is the second killing by a leopard in the district this month. A 22-year-old woman was killed by a leopard in Papdeo village of Pithoragarh forest division on September 3. 

WATCH | Stranded Leopard Rescued From A Well In Pune, Netizens Celebrate

Last year, a seven-year-old boy was also killed after an attack by a leopard. Around eight hectares of forest land was burnt to ashes by angry villagers in Uttarakhand's Bageshwar district after the kid was mauled to death by a leopard, the second such incident in three months, police said.

The attack took place on Monday evening when the boy had gone out of his home in Harinagri village to relieve himself while his mother was in the kitchen. The leopard dragged the boy inside the forest surrounding the house. The next morning, his half-eaten body was recovered by villagers 250 metres away, Mr Gupta said.

"Angry villagers numbering around 4000-5000 set on fire eight hectares of van panchayat land in the village yesterday," Mr Gupta, who is also the nodal officer for forest fires, said quoting Bageshwar Divisional Forest Officer RK Singh.

The fire could not be extinguished as irate villagers did not allow outsides to enter the village, he said. The villagers also blamed the same leopard for killing a 4-year-old boy in the area in March this year.

READ | Leopard Skin Gets Seized By Forest Officers In Odisha, 6 Get Arrested