A Leopard has been shot dead by Forest Department marksmen following the death of a child earlier this month. The Animal attacked and killed an eight-year-old girl in the village of Deval in Tehri Gharwal District on Monday 3 August 2020, and had evaded attempts to capture it since. Following a number of further attacks around Human settlements, in which three Cows and a Dog were killed (indicative of an Animal that has become acclimated to Humans, and is likely to continue to present a threat to Human life as well as livestock), the decision was taken to euthanise the Leopard, which was subsequently shot dead by a sniper at about 11.30 pm local time on Friday 21 August.
Leopards are considered to be Vulnerable under the terms of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's Red List of Threatened Species, with the Indian subspecies, Panthera pardus fusca, considered to be particularly vulnerable due to India's rapidly rising Human population, which has resulted in agriculture and other Human activities expanding into many former wilderness areas. For this reason, the Indian Forest Service usually try to relocate Leopards that come into conflict with Humans to more remote areas, preferably within national parks, though the extent to which local people co-operate is variable.
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