2 leopards fighting for territory killed in Gir forest after coming in contact with power distribution line
On Tuesday morning, the two leopards were found dead on the border of a sugarcane plantation, around 10 km from the border of Gir National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary (GNPWLS), officials added.
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Forest department staff at the site where two leopards were electrocuted. ExpressA territorial fight between two male leopards on the western fringes of Gir forest ended in their deaths when they came in contact with a power distribution line, forest officers said on Thursday.
On Tuesday morning, the two leopards were found dead on the border of a sugarcane plantation, around 10 km from the border of Gir National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary (GNPWLS), officials added. “The postmortem has concluded that both the leopards died due to electrocution,” Prashant Tomar, deputy conservator of forests (DCF) of Gir (west) wildlife division, told The Indian Express, adding, “The fact that both the leopards were male indicate some sort of territorial fight was going on between them and they were electrocuted in the process.”
“There is a peepul (sacred fig) tree near the place where the two carcasses were found and the 11 kv line passes very closely by that tree. The two leopards apparently climbed the tree during their fight and came in contact with the power line, leading to their deaths,” Tomar said, adding, “We observed scratches on the trunk of the tree, establishing that the big cats had climbed up the tree.”
Govindpura Bhandriya village is part of the revenue area of the Jamwala range of the Gir (west) wildlife division. As per the officials, one of the leopards was between five to seven years old the other was between three to five years old.
Ashok Amin, range forest officer (RFO) of Jamwala range, said, “We observed leopard fur in the samples of cable, establishing they had come in contact with the power line and electrocuted.”
Gir forest and adjoining areas are the only natural habitat for Asiatic lions in the world. The landscape also supports the densest population of leopards.
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