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8-yr-old mauled to death by leopard in Budgam
An eight-year-old boy was mauled to death by a leopard in Kashmir’s Budgam district late on Friday, officials said on Saturday
An eight-year-old boy was mauled to death by a leopard in Kashmir’s Budgam district late on Friday, officials said on Saturday.
They said the boy was taken away by a leopard when he was on his way to his aunt’s house at Hari Pora Haran in Soibugh, Budgam. A hunt was immediately launched by the villagers who found the boy’s body in the nearby plantations.
Range officer (wildlife) Sajid Farooq said the boy lost his life in the unfortunate incident. People heard the cries and saw a blood trail.
“The boy was quickly retrieved by the villagers and taken to hospital where doctors declared him brought dead,” Farooq said.
This is the second incident in three months in Budgam when a child has lost his/her life to an attack by a leopard.
A four-year-old girl had gone missing on June 3 while she was playing in the lawn of her house at Ompura Housing Colony, Budgam and was believed to have been taken away by a leopard.
Next day, her mauled body was found in a forest nursery. The incident had caused outrage in the Valley.
On June 15, the Jammu and Kashmir administration had announced that the leopard responsible for killing the girl was captured following a massive operation.
Following the incident, the forest department had trimmed down and pruned trees in the nursery to “avoid any further loss of life”.
“The area of Friday’s incident does not have any proximity to any forest but has a large poplar plantation on revenue land,” he said.
Officials said the strength of personnel from forest protection force and wildlife is reinforced and traps are being installed in Soibugh area.
“We have already installed a cage and are in the process of installing another,” Farooq said, adding, “We are ascertaining its movement pattern and determining its track.”
He said the leopard was probably waiting at the fringe end of Hari Pora Haran village near a place which has a lot of trash.
He urged villagers not to allow kids unattended in early mornings and evenings. “It is better to keep your surroundings clean and install lights at dark spots to avoid such incidents,” he said.
