Leopard injures three, beaten to death in Jalpaiguri

A leopard was beaten to death by villagers in West Bengal's Jalpaiguri District after it had strayed into the village and attacked three on Tuesday.

The leopard had entered the village from the Jayanti forest area and was beaten to death before forest officials could reach the spot to capture it.

For the past few weeks, villagers had been living under constant fear of the leopard, which had spread panic in the village.

"A leopard had created panic among the people of Jayanti village. The leopard had attacked three villagers including a tourist. The villagers attacked the leopard and beat it to death," said a villager, Hussein Abibul Hassan.

In recent months, there have been reports of frequent intrusion by leopards and tigers into villages.

Wildlife experts say endangered tigers are turning on humans due to shrinking of the natural habitat.

In another incident, a 16-year-old girl was attacked in Uttar Praesh's Moradabad District by a tiger on Tuesday.

The tiger escaped after the attack and a search is still on for it by forest officials.

Uttar Pradesh's Chief Conservator of Forests M.P. Singh said efforts are being made to capture the tiger since December 29 last year.

There were about 40,000 tigers in India a century ago, but in recent years the tiger population has fallen largely due to dwindling habitat and poaching.

India's big cats are under threat, with increasing number of these spotted feline beauties being poached for their hide and body parts.

Depletion of their habitat has also threatened the leopards, forcing them to stray into human settlements - attacking people, poultry birds and livestock cattle - and often getting killed in return.