Nainital, Dec 26 (PTI) A woman was mauled to death by a leopard in the Dhari block of Nainital district on Friday, officials said.
The incident occurred in Dini Talli Gram Panchayat in the morning when
Hema Devi left her home for the forest to collect fodder for her cattle. A leopard, which was lying in ambush nearby, attacked her, officials said.
Villagers said that Devi had spotted the leopard earlier and started shouting and throwing stones at it, but the leopard still managed to grab her and drag her into the forest.
They said that the woman's brother-in-law also raised an alarm and attacked the leopard with stones to save her, but the animal quickly dragged her away into the forest.
Upon receiving information about the incident, other members of the woman's family also reached the spot and, along with the villagers, searched the forest, after which her body was recovered.
Nathuawakhan Forest Range Officer Vijay Bhatt said upon receiving the information, a team of forest personnel was dispatched immediately to the spot.
Panic spread in the area after the incident, and villagers also expressed their anger against the forest department.
Attacks by tigers, leopards, bears and other animals has claimed more than 900 lives in Uttarakhand in the last 25 years, highlighting alarming levels of human-wildlife conflict in the hilly state, according to government data.
According to government data, human-wildlife conflict has claimed over 900 lives in Uttarakhand over the past 25 years with leopard attacks claiming 548 lives. PTI DPT SHS
