5 sheep killed in suspected leopard attack in Zehanpora village of Baramulla

Baramulla, Oct 07: At least five sheep were killed in a suspected leopard attack in Zehanpora village of Boniyar in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district last night.
A police officer said that at least five sheep of Abdul Rasheed Sheikh son of Abdul Aziz Sheikh, a resident of Zehanpora Boniyar were killed in a suspected leopard attack.
“Given the nature of the injuries, it seems to be a leopard attack,” the police officer said.
The locals of Zehanpora said that leopards are making entry to human habitation in the Uri area of Baramulla and the concerned department has failed to hunt down the leopard.
The Range Officer Wildlife Baramulla said that the department is utilising all resources from catching nets to human power either to catch or kill the leopard.
“We have received orders to kill the leopard and we have employed dozens of sharpshooters to kill the leopard. We however appeal the locals to stay alert especially during night hours,” he added.
Abdul Rasheed, the sheep owner said that when he went to feed the sheep this morning, he saw five sheep dead with blood smeared around in a nearby field.
“Apparently due to scarcity of food and growing deforestation, the leopards and other wild animals are now entering the habitation. We lost five human lives in the recent past and now five sheep were killed in the leopard attack,” the local villagers told Rising Kashmir.
The villagers appealed to the Wildlife Department officials to contain the movement of wild animals in and around the human habitation.
They also appealed to the government to provide compensation to the affected livestock owner.