Leopard attacks on the rise in Uttarakhand

One of the two man-eater leopards terrorising the countryside in Uttarakhand’s Pithoragarh and Pauri districts killed a woman in a remote village overnight, officials said on Tuesday.

One of the two man-eater leopards terrorising the countryside in Uttarakhand’s Pithoragarh and Pauri districts killed a woman in a remote village overnight, officials said on Tuesday.

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The killing of the woman, said to be in her mid-fifties, on Monday took the number of humans killed by the two leopards in separate incidents to an estimated 14.

Chief wildlife warden DPS Khati said the forest department has already issued orders to kill both the man-eaters.

One of the leopards also attacked and seriously injured a six-year-old girl on Tuesday afternoon at a village in Pauri district while she was playing in the courtyard, forest officials said.

However, the girl’s parents were alerted by her shouts for help and rushed out just in time to shoo away the leopard.

According to forest officials, the same leopard had killed the middle-aged woman on Monday close to the scene of the attack on the minor.

The other leopard, on the other hand, attacked a labourer in the Didihat area of Pithoragarh district on Monday but was scared away by local residents who rushed to his help on hearing his screams.

The attack followed the leopard killing another person in the same area on Sunday.