Locals in Udhampur murdered two female leopards

In the Udhampur area, two female leopards were killed in a hamlet by use of homemade snares made of clutch wires. The event was reported from Balandh village in the district’s Ramnagar tehsil during the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday. As soon as the Wildlife Department got the information, it moved quickly. In J&K, leopards are classified as Schedule 1 wild animals.

Following quick action, a team headed by Range Officer, Wildlife Range Udhampur, Rakesh Sharma, and Jammu Wildlife Warden, Vijay Kumar, hurried to the scene after reporting the incident to the district administration and police authorities.

Upon arrival, it was discovered that a female leopard had been ruthlessly slain with a locally made clutch wire trap, and another had been seriously wounded after being caught in a snare in the agricultural field of a Balandh native named Deewan Chand. The female leopard, who was seriously wounded, passed away while being transported for treatment by the wildlife team, who had worked very hard to liberate it. This meant that two leopards had been illegally killed, according to an official.

The official went on to say that the Department of Wildlife Protection had obtained the carcasses of both of the Schedule 1 wild beasts and that, in addition to filing a formal complaint against the unidentified individuals in Ramnagar police station under the applicable provisions of the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972, an inquest procedure had been started into the horrific wildlife crime.

He said, “Final disposal of both carcasses will be carried out by complete incineration in accordance with extant statutory guidelines.”