A four-year-old girl was killed after she was taken away by a leopard in Jammu and Kashmirs Udhampur district on Saturday evening. The incident shocked the whole community and rescue teams were called immediately. As soon as the news of the incident reached the Udhampur Wildlife Department control room a team was dispatched to the area in a race against time to locate and rescue the young victim.The mauled body of the young girl was later recovered by the locals, two kilometers away from her house in Upper Banjala village of Panchari tehsil in the district, said Rakesh Sharma, Range Officer of the Jammu and Kashmir Wildlife Department in Udhampur.Udhampur, J&K | Between 7-8pm, a 4-year-old girl was taken away by a leopard. As we got the information, we dispatched teams from Udhampur control room. Were here to ensure that such incidents dont occur in the future. This is a very unfortunate incident, and we will do all the… pic.twitter.com/gabR7L4Tcs— ANI (@ANI) September 3, 2023While narrating the incident he said “Between 7-8 pm, a 4-year-old girl was taken away by a leopard. As we got the information, we dispatched teams from Udhampur control room. We are here to ensure that such incidents dont occur in the future.”“This is a very unfortunate incident, and we will do all the help possible to the victims family,” he added.There is ongoing search to capture this leopard.Rakesh Sharma said that a massive search operation has been launched to catch the wild leopard and will capture it as soon as possible. Moreover, he said that compensation for the victims family has also been prepared and will be provided at once.Local residents were also asked to be cautious, during early morning and late evening hours, as these are times when wild animals, including leopards, are known to be more active. Sharma also stressed on the importance of wildlife awareness among people and stressed that young children and elders should not be let out alone during dawn and dusk.“During our awareness campaigns, we do request people that during dawn and dusk, dont let children, women, and senior citizens go alone,” he said.Incidents like this make us rethink the challenges humans and animals go through when the two coexist in the same habitat amidst rising rising climate crisis.
