DHENKANAL: The carcass of a male adult leopard was found at Bariaragadi village near Satmile in Hindol range of Dhenkanal forest division on Wednesday.Villagers of Bariaragadi informed forest officials after detecting foul smell emanating from nearby agriculture fields. Forest personnel led by ranger LK Ratha rushed to the village and spotted the leopard carcass in a nullah. Sources said the local forest is located around 500 metre away from the spot where the carcass was found.
Later, divisional forest officer (DFO) of Dhenkanal Prakash Chandra Gogineni and ACF Subrat Patra reached Bariaragadi village for verification. While the exact cause of the leopard’s death is yet to be ascertained, it is believed that the big cat died around three days back.
“We don’t think the leopard died due to poaching as there was no evidence of laying of snare or live wire on the spot. Besides, there were no injury marks on the carcass. Samples collected from the carcass have been sent to the Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology (OUAT), Bhubaneswar for test. The exact reason behind its death can be ascertained after the postmortem report arrives,” said the DFO.This is the second leopard death in Hindol forest range in a span of a year. In June last, a leopard had died in the range after being trapped in a snare.
Meanwhile, in a separate incident, an elephant calf was found dead in Dhenkanal Sadar forest range area on the day. The carcass was spotted on the bank of a pond in Mahulapada village. Gogineni said forest officials are not able to go near the carcass as it is being guarded by the mother elephant and a herd. Investigation is underway to find out the reason behind the calf’s death, the DFO added.