BHOPAL: A pregnant leopard was killed by a tiger in Panna Tiger Reserve (PTR) on Wednesday. Its carcass and two fetuses were found in Mandla range, PTR officials said.
This was the seventh such case at PTR, where leopards were killed over a war of territorial supremacy.
"Spotting leopard in its territory, tiger (T-4) attacked the small cat and broke its skull bone," said R Shreenivas Murthy, PTR director.
Leopards often take shelter on fringes of forest killing animals like dogs and generally avoid encounters with tigers, he said, adding the leopard had entered T-4's territory.
"Pugmarks of a tiger were detected on the spot where the carcass of the leopard was recovered. Canine injuries on forehead, front leg and below neck substantially indicated that the leopard was killed in tiger attack," Murthy added.
Poaching has been ruled out as its hide and nails were found intact. For further investigations, the fetuses were embalmed and other samples were sent for forensic examination.
