A leopard has gone on the rampage in India, and is feared to have savaged three children to death in less than 48 hours.
Authorities have ordered the animal killed following the discovery of the bodies in three separate incidents in the Jammu and Kashmir region of northern India.
The youngest victim is a 10-year-old girl named Rutba Manzoor, whose body was recovered from woodland close to her home in the Uri area on Tuesday.
After a search to find the man-eating animal in the dense forest failed, the rescue team made a tragic discovery.
Her death sparked furious protests, with Rutba’s relatives blocking the Srinagar to Uri highway over the alleged inaction by the wildlife department.
It comes after two boys were killed in suspected leopard attacks over the weekend.
The body of 12-year-old Shahid Ahmed was found on Sunday evening after he went missing while out grazing his family’s cattle.
While on Saturday, another boy, Muneer Ahmad, 15, was also mauled to death after suffering injuries consistent with a wild animal attack.
The leopard is said to still be roaming the woods of Uri, reports the Kashmir News Service.
Panicked local residents have urged authorities to catch the animal.
In a statement, a regional wildlife warden has ordered the big cat to be killed if it can’t be stunned.
Suresh Gupta, chief wildlife warden for Jammu and Kashmir said he was instructing his team “to hunt or cause the said animal to be hunted forthwith after completing the required formalities”.
He added: “It shall be ensured that all efforts to capture the animal through trapping cages or tranquilising have been exhausted before eliminating the animal.”
Such animal attacks on humans have become increasingly common in the region as humans move further and further into the leopards’ territory.
A meeting was held at the Deputy Commissioner of Baramulla’s office between officials and police.
On Tuesday, Baramulla Deputy Commissioner Syed Sehrish Asgar’s office said authorities have been directed to capture or kill the leopard by mobilising all available resources, according to the Press Trust of India.
The Department for Wildlife Protection – whose job it is to deal with such incidents – said it had put together a team of 50 men to look for the animal.
Rashid Naqash, regional Wildlife Protection Warden, said he is confident they will soon catch the leopard.
He told the Kashmir Observer: “This is a coordinated operation with forest protection, Jammu and Kashmir police and locals who are trying to catch or kill the animal.”
Naqash said officials have provided tranquilisers, cages, and other equipment to “eliminate” the leopard, with sharpshooters deployed in the woods.
However, he warned that the cat is an “unpredictable” animal that can strike anywhere at any time.
“So it is important to take precaution and be aware,” he added.
The DC’s office added that the safety of human lives and the protection of wildlife resources are the administration’s top priorities.
In addition, the sub-divisional magistrate’s office in Uri has issued guidelines to the public urging children to not go into forests alone.
Harvinder Singh, Sub Divisional Magistrate for Uri told the Kashmir Observer that the children’s families will be provided with compensation of over 400,000 rupees (£4,142).
He said the local terrain is tough, making it difficult to locate the leopard.
In the last 15 years, 230 people have lost their lives and more than 2,800 have been injured in animal attacks in Jammu and Kashmir, according to the Kashmir Observer.
The worst years were in 2011-12 and 2013-14 when at least 28 people were killed.
It comes after an elderly woman was trampled to death by an elephant in Raipal, eastern India.
Maya Murmu, 70, was collecting water in her village when the escaped elephant launched a furious attack.
She died from catastrophic injuries after the elephant stamped on her.
But in a cruel twist, the raging creature returned to wreak havoc at her funeral.
After pulling her body off the top of her funeral pyre, it once again trampled her body, throwing her around and savaging her corpse before leaving the scene, reports Press Trust of India.
The elephant is understood to have escaped from Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary in Jharkhand – 124 miles from where the brutal attack took place.
This article originally appeared on The Sun and was reproduced here with permission.
