Leopard Mauls At Least Three People In India (GRAPHIC PHOTOS)

WARNING: The following article contains graphic content and photos.

A wild leopard snuck into a house in the northeastern Indian city of Guwahati today and mauled at least three people, the New York Daily News reports.

According to a report by Rediff News, panicked residents attempted to scare the animal away by throwing stones at it. After the commotion, a group of veterinarians and "wildlife rescue personnel" from the state zoo were able to tranquilize the leopard, the publication reports.

A post by the International Business Times cites "rampant deforestation" of Navagraha hill for housing construction as a possible reason behind animals being "forced" to come into residential areas and, at times, attack people.

The article goes on to say that instances of man-animal conflicts have increased recently.

Comments

[OccupyforEarth]

01:02 PM on 01/12/2012

FIRST OF ALL, I WONDER IF THE HUFFINGTON POST WOULD BE SO KIND AS TO POST A FOLLOW UP TO SEE IF THE VICTIMS RECOVERED. I WOULD LIKE TO OFFER MY BEST WISHES AS I CANNOT IMAGINE SUCH HORROR.

Sorry, but this story and the photos have been bothering me since I saw them. Also, there is conflict between stories - one story says that one man died, and that the leopard survived. Also it was reported by BBC that the leopard originally entered a funeral and was chased, then tried to escape, and only after it was chased relentlessly did it turn and attack. That makes more sense to me.

[bad spelling grammar]

03:01 PM on 01/09/2012

The fact that they are not killing this leopard and releasing it back into the wild should be a lesson learned to the world. India’s culture helps it understand that due to human activity leopards are running out of space and food in the wild. They venture close to cities to prey on feral dogs, since dogs like to hangout around humans, the clash is inevitable. If this was a mountain lion in America, authorities wouldn’t give it a second chance and would ultimately shoot the animal. Luckily India has a lot more respect for wildlife and it is shown in this story. I read an article about a man who lost a child to a leopard in India, he didn’t blame the leopard he actually raised awareness in his local community on how to stay safe in leopard country. Hopefully America can adopt this civil approach to handling wildlife instead of our cowboy/ rancher shoot first ask questions later attitude. Americans are guilty of running many species to extinction within our borders because we feel that we can kill our way out of anything, hence why we are engaged in war 24/7 and have more guns within our borders than any other country. My suggestion to the rancher types who love to shoot things, don’t live in nature if you can’t handle the wildlife. And by handle I mean live side by side without killing everything that wants to live.

[LivelyLexie]

11:12 AM on 01/09/2012

Oh my word, that second picture in the slideshow is... ugh. That's what I get for ignoring the "graphic" warning, I guess.
I'm glad they didn't just put the leopard down, though.

[OccupyforEarth]

01:03 PM on 01/12/2012

One of the most horrible pictures I've seen, I'm regretting that too! At least I heard that man survived and is recovering.

[LivelyLexie]

01:58 PM on 01/12/2012

I'm glad it's not just me! And I'm very happy that the man is okay, too.

[pioneerman01]

02:21 AM on 01/09/2012

Ref to kitty, "Are you ready?!"
Ref to man, "Are you ready?!"
Ref, "Let's get it on!"
(Less than a minute in round)
Ref, "The winner is kitty!!!"

[Claudia L]

12:42 AM on 01/09/2012

There are only about 3,000 leopards left in the whole world. And we could do with less people. I hope the let that poor baby out of that cage.

[bad spelling grammar]

03:06 PM on 01/09/2012

There are way more than that, you’re thinking of tigers. Leopards are the most widely dispersed big cat in the world spreading across two continents (Africa and Asia). Their numbers are in the 30,000+ range but a few subspecies are facing extinction like the Amur leopard in eastern Russia, where there are only 40 left in the wild. Either way I hope your keeping your ear tuned to the wildlife data coming in. Plenty of species need our help to survive and everyone who is willing to help should. Word Wildlife Fund has the most up to date data on all endangered species. There website is fantastic for a none profit agency, you can find out ways to help leopards across the world there.

[Claudia L]

04:36 PM on 01/09/2012

You're absolutely correct. It is tigers. It is a tragedy that humans are unable to make the connection between their existence and their environment. My religious friends believe this is just a passing through place and God is going to come down and fix the destruction of the earth. And I say NO! If he comes down it will be to make us clean our room. May be even get a spanking. We are the caretakers. The animals are innocent and depend on us. F&F.

[bonnieb333]

06:10 PM on 01/08/2012

I'd like to think that's a toupee in that photo.

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[ScorpioRN]

08:52 PM on 01/08/2012

I'm hoping.

[OccupyforEarth]

05:51 PM on 01/08/2012

I doubt the leopard was looking to consume the victims. If it was they would be dead. I'm pretty sure this attack was about territory.

[bad spelling grammar]

03:09 PM on 01/09/2012

Due to lack of prey via human hunting, leopards feed on feral dogs which hangout around human communities. The leopard was just looking for a snack and found that the slow human would make an easy target. It’s a huge problem in that country because there entire ecosystem is collapsing.

[OccupyforEarth]

03:34 PM on 01/09/2012

I'm pretty sure the leopard would have not failed at consuming the humans had it really intended to. None of the vicims even died, much less were eaten. Short of real weaponry, the people were not armed enough to fight off a leopard intent on eating them.

[OccupyforEarth]

05:43 PM on 01/08/2012

I think it is the height of obscenity that someone would take this kind of photograph. Is this how you would want to be memorialized? Would you want your family to see this? What if the man dies and it is the last picture of him?

[ScorpioRN]

08:53 PM on 01/08/2012

Would look great on his Facebook page.

[vobox3343]

04:36 PM on 01/08/2012

Revenge, the leopard cries.

[ScorpioRN]

08:55 PM on 01/08/2012

Seriously, people move in to the cat's territory and probably kill his or her family and people are surprised when they attack.

[HELIMAN1]

03:23 PM on 01/08/2012

NOW THAT'S A SKULL CAP!!

[Luuke]

02:57 PM on 01/08/2012

Atleast all involved survived ...Couldn't say the same about the U.S

[Bret Hein]

02:29 PM on 01/08/2012

That is one awesome photo

[kck9284]

02:10 PM on 01/08/2012

Too bad animals are not able to detect only the stupid people of the world. If they could only kill the moronic uneducated of the world we'd be ok.

[karmma72]

01:04 PM on 01/08/2012

Authorities suspect the wife of the second man did it to all of them but, she is blaming the leopard.

[byjack007]

12:15 PM on 01/08/2012

It's not the animals fault, at 1.3-1.7 billion there are way way too many people in India.
It's the peoples fault. 1.5 billion people in an area 1/3 the size of the USA (population 300 million) is totally.....ridiculous!
WHY won't Indian's stop having 27 children each. Their over population is ruining their land, country, their future and all the animals.
Haven't they ever heard of 'birth control' and why can't they have sex 'without' making babies, it's not very hard.

[yolo112]

01:34 PM on 01/08/2012

In India the birth rate was once 6 per woman, with many of the girl babies being killed or abandoned due to the (now illegal, but not followed) dowry. With it's population being over 900 people per square mile, I'm surprised we don't see more stories like this. I am thankful that the leopard wasn't killed...we all that it would have been shot dead if that happened here in America.