BARIPADA: The carcass of a leopard that was found in Janhachatiri near Chitrupada village under Keshadiha section near Thakurmunda range office on Tuesday was seized and sent for a post-mortem by the forest officials on Wednesday.
The carcass of the five-year-old leopard was spotted by forester Dillip Kumar Behera and team along with the members of tiger protection force. “Blood was oozing from its nose and an injury mark was spotted on its throat,” Behera said.
Deputy Director of Similipal Tiger Reserve (STR) Ajit Kumar Satpathy, Karanjia DFO Prasanna Kumar Behera and veterinary surgeons reached the spot and sent it for post-mortem. Satpathy said preliminary investigation revealed that the leopard died due to brain haemorrhage. “The leopard is suspected to have fallen from a tree and hurt its head resulting in haemorrhage,” he said.
On the other hand, wildlife lovers and locals alleged that the leopard was poisoned.