Pakistan

Locals shoot dead leopard after attack on residents in Swat

Two big cats reportedly entered a village in search of food after heavy snowfall in the surrounding hilly areas

APP January 14, 2020

Wild cats reportedly entered a village in search of food after heavy snowfall in the surrounding hilly areas. PHOTO: EXPRESS

SWAT: Locals hunted down a leopard while another managed to escape after the duo injured three residents of Fazal Banda village in Swat's Matta Tehsil on Tuesday.

The big cats reportedly entered the village in search for food after heavy snowfall in the surrounding hilly areas.

According to locals, the leopards attacked the residents and injured three people, after which they felt compelled to open fire on the wild animals.

One of the two wild cats was killed, while the other escaped in Nahag Dara jungle in Upper Dir, they said.

PHOTO: EXPRESS

Locals also posted their pictures with the killed animal on social media.

Locals kill leopard in Darra Adam Khel

Matta Deputy Superintendent Police (DSP) Shoukat Ali has confirmed the incident.

Experts suggest that due to loss of habitat and shortage of food, wild animals make their way into human population in search of food.

Similar incidents had also taken place in Abbottabad, Manshehra, Darra Adam Khel and other hilly areas of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) province in the recent past.

COMMENTS (1)

MJ | 4 years ago | Reply It's sad to see an endangered animal being hunted. Did the cats really attack the residents? Snow leopards are solitary hunters and don't attack in packs or pairs. It is possible that the leopard(s) got closer to the villages to hunt for livestock and the people used the opportunity to gun them down for bragging rights. I hope that I am wrong.

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