JK: Wild animals kill a woman

Srinagar, July 31: A woman was killed and another villager injured by wild animals in the Kashmir valley overnight, official sources said.

They said a woman Kurshee was attacked by a leopard at Tral, about 35 km from here in south Kashmir district of Pulwama. However, before other villagers could came to her rescue, the leopard killed her.

They said a bear suddenly appeared in the forest area at Srigufwara in Anatnag district early this morning and attacked a villager Abdul Rashid Sheikh.

However, other villagers present in the area rescued him and took him to hospital in a critical condition.

Two days earlier, authorities killed a bear at a village in border district of Kupwara in north Kashmir as the animal had spread havoc in the area.

The bear had let loose a reign of terror in the village by injuring five villagers and killing a cow.

On July 11, a bear in south Kashmir killed two villagers.

As many as 27 people have been killed and more than 120 wounded in attacks by leopards and bears in Jammu and Kashmir during the past two years.

In man-animal conflicts during the past ten years, more than 150 people have lost their lives and about 1,500 wounded in Jammu and Kashmir.

Two leopards were also killed by the people since January this year in the valley.

The reason behind the increasing man-animal conflicts in the state were the shrinking habitats of wild animals, spread of human settlements, deforestation and decrease in herbivore population.

UNI