Found resting with limited movement near a
pond in Dewas, Indian leopard took his last breath on the way to Indore. To
find out the reason for mysterious death of the endangered species, post mortem
was conducted in Dewas on Monday.
The leopard was spotted by villagers on
Sunday, sitting by the pond. “The leopard seemed rather still as they are
naturally alert and swift in movement,” Dewas forest ranger Jaiveer Singh said.
The leopard was about 3-year-old and
probably came to drink water. “He was sitting in the back forest of Dhanigathi
village about 6 kilometres from Hatpipliya,” Singh said.
It was not unusual to find the leopard in
the area, as there are reportedly 5 to 7 leopards residing in the forest. “This
one was quite young and had scratches over head, legs and paws,” Singh said.
Worried about his lack of alertness, the
forest official called upon a veterinarian from Ujjain to check the leopard.
“He was not that injured just unusually still,” Singh said.
Being a young leopard, the rescue team with
doctor felt it was better to take him to Indore city zoo. “We wanted to save
its life and see if there was any treatment needed,” Singh said.
However, on his way, the leopard became
still and when checked, the leopard had no heart beat. “It is possible that the
leopard got in a fight with some other leopards or animals in the area, but
what caused him to lose his life are not scratches,” Singh said.
He added that leopard could have some other
reason including abandonment issues, which caused him to give up on life at the
age of 3.