Six-yr-old leopard found dead in Yeoor Hills

Adivasis in the Pachwad area of the Sanjay Gandhi National park in Thane found the carcass of a six-year-old leopard near their hutments on Thursday morning.

The adivasis at first thought that the leopard was asleep, but on close inspection, realised that it was dead. They informed the forest department officials and the Kasarvadavli police.

Arun Manchekar, a beat forest guard for the Pachwad area, was the first to reach the spot. He said, “The body of the leopard was swollen. There were no injury marks on its body. The leopard could have eaten something poisonous, which resulted in its death.”

The leopard’s body was sent for a post-mortem by the forest officials after the police filed a panchnama. The forest officials conducted its last rites in the evening after the post-mortem was conducted. The cause of the animal’s death will be clear with the post-mortem report, which is expected within a week.

s_divyesh@dnaindia.net