Tehri: In a tragic incident, a three-year-old boy was killed by a leopard in Tehri, Uttarakhand. The attack occurred in Purwal village in Ghansali while the boy was playing behind his house with cousins.
His mother discovered blood in the yard and alerted the villagers, who later found his mutilated body in nearby bushes.
Animal picked him when the boy was playing with his cousins
Authorities are taking steps to address the situation, including increasing patrolling in the area and seeking permission to tranquilize the leopard. The officials said the incident happened at Purwal village around 5 pm when Ankit Kumar’s son Raj Kumar was playing in the courtyard of the house with his maternal uncle’s children. The animal picked up the child and dragged him away.
Child’s mutilated body was recovered from nearby bushes
Bhilangana Range Officer Ashish Nautiyal and Purwal village head Sanjay Tiwari reported that the child had wandered behind the house while playing, where a leopard was lying in wait. When the child’s mother Manju Devi couldn’t find her son, she began searching for him. Neighbours joined the search, but the child remained missing. Eventually, someone noticed blood stains on the road behind the house, which led them to the bushes where they discovered the child’s mutilated body.
Increasing presence of leopards near human settlements has led to a rise in human-wildlife conflicts
Wildlife experts highlight that Uttarakhand’s forests provide a safe natural habitat for leopards. However, the increasing presence of leopards near human settlements has led to a rise in human-wildlife conflicts. The main causes of this are forest fires and a shortage of food for the leopards.
In 2023, Uttarakhand saw a significant number of fatalities due to animal attacks as 61 people have lost their lives in such incidents. The breakdown includes 25 deaths from snake bites, 17 from leopard attacks, 13 from tiger attacks, 5 from elephant attacks, and 1 from a wild boar attack.
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