Female leopard that attacked two kids found dead in Thane

The children who were attacked by the leopard (left)

The decomposed carcass of a 10-year-old female leopard that attacked two children a couple of days back, was found in the forest patch in Murbad, Thane on Saturday. The children were attacked when they had gone to the forest with their grandmother to collect firewood and fruits in Karpewadi forest on Friday afternoon.

Katibai Ramu Bhalla, 52, climbed a jamun tree, while the children - Naresh Bhalla, 13, and Ramu Bhalla, 7, - were collecting the fruit on the ground when the leopard attacked Naresh. Katibai started to descend and tried to scare the animal away with a sickle, but it pounced towards her forcing her to climb up the tree again. Ramu then started pelting stones at the leopard when it tried to attack him. Scared, the leopard ran away.

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"The boys tried to protect themselves from the leopard. They were taken to a government hospital as they had sustained few minor injuries on their hands and head," said forest guard Ramesh Naik, who rushed to the spot on learning about the incident.

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Honorary Wildlife Warden of Mumbai Mayur Kamat who visited Murbad on Saturday, said, "A female leopard aged around 10 years was found dead in protected forest area near Karpewadi village. The same leopard had attacked two children the previous day."

A post-mortem of the leopard was conducted at the Sanjay Gandhi National Park. The leopard's death had initially raised suspicion that the villagers had killed it after the attack, however, the post-mortem report found no foul play. Veterinary Officer Dr Shailesh Pethe said, "Post-mortem findings suggest respiratory failure as a probable cause of death." The vets also did not find any external injuries on the body of the animal.

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