Leopard kills three-year-old girl near Sutrapada

Rajkot: A leopard killed a three-year-old girl at a village in Sutrapada taluka of Gir Somnath district. The child's remains, with most of the body eaten, were discovered in the early hours of Monday.
Forest department officials reported that the attack occurred in Morasa village at about 10pm on Sunday. The leopard pounced on the child at play and pulled her into some acacia trees on the village outskirts. Officials conducted a search, but the darkness hindered their efforts. At 6.30am, they located the victim's remains. Officials said 70-80% of the body had been eaten.
The victim, Kundana Chavda, was the daughter of a farm labourer. The attack occurred while the family was having dinner, and she was playing outside. The leopard grabbed her by the neck between 9.30pm and 10pm. Despite villagers' immediate search efforts and the forest department being notified, they couldn't locate her.
"The team began the search as soon as we got this information and staff from the entire range was mobilized at the village. We found parts of her body in the morning," stated Akshay Joshi, deputy conservator of forest, Junagadh to TOI.
He added, "We have captured a female leopard, and we will conduct scat analysis to confirm that this was indeed the animal that had eaten the girl. We do not want to take any chances and have set cages to capture other leopards in this area."
Scat analysis involves examining faecal matter to detect human skin and hair, confirming the predation of a human by the animal.
Forest officials are conducting awareness programmes in neighbouring villages, advising residents to avoid areas with cages after evening. They note that while leopards typically return to attack sites the following day, increased human activity may deter their return.