A four-year-old girl was killed during an accidental encounter with a leopard in a private tea estate in Arakadu near Mynala on Wednesday morning.
The victim was identified as K.Saridha, the daughter of two migrant workers from Assam. According to Forest Department officials, the victim had ventured into an area away from the main estate when she came across a wild animal, believed to be a leopard, which attacked her. The animal is believed to have dragged her for a short distance before residents chased it away.
Saridha was rushed to the Government Medical College and Hospital in Udhagamandalam, but died of the injuries she suffered in the attack. In a statement, the Forest Department said the area around where the incident occurred was perambulated, and pug marks, consistent with that of a leopard, were found.
They said the surrounding area would continue to be monitored to ensure that further interactions between humans and the animal were prevented. This was the first fatality to occur due to a negative interaction between a human and a leopard in recent years in the Nilgiris. Officials said that leopards usually stayed away from humans and that negative interactions were extremely rare.
“This incident is very unfortunate. Based on preliminary investigations, it seems that the victim accidentally strayed too close to the leopard while she was going to relieve herself in the open, when the incident occurred,” said a top official from the Forest Department.
