Villagers kill leopard in Thar

KARACHI: The enraged villagers in the Thar area of Sindh killed a leopard that had hunted on their cattle.

The predator was believed to have crossed borders and entered the desert district of the province from India. The residents of village Morano, Taluka Islamkot of Tharparkar, on Tuesday chased and killed the large cat after it reportedly devoured as many as 10 sheep and goats during past few days.

Local villagers told The News that after spotting the rare leopard, they had informed the officials of the Sindh Wildlife Department, but they did not bother to catch it alive. "After getting a poor response from the government officials, we were left with no other option but to chase and kill it," claimed the villagers.

The villagers claimed that they were forced to chase and kill the predator after it went on killing their animals and causing financial loss to them. Later the villagers buried the carcass. Mir Aijaz Talpur, Deputy Conservative, Sindh Wildlife Department, said that they had asked the villagers to wait for a day as experts’ team was dispatched from Karachi to catch it alive. But the villagers killed the predator in haste and violated the laws, said Talpur, adding that legal action would be taken against those involved in killing the leopard. It may be recalled that residents of another village had also killed a cheetah some months back that had also entered Tharparkar from India.