JALPAIGURI: The male leopard at its peak was beaten to death in Gergenda tea park in the Madarihat block on Alipurduar.
The big cat carcass was found from near tea bushes close to Gergenda elementary school on Wednesday.
It has signs of thrashings.
The autopsy revealed that the animal was beaten with lathi, iron stems and even sharp weapons and was finally beaten with large stones, which caused the death of animal protected under the schedule I Wildlife Protection Act.
Immediately after the findings, the Division of the Wildlife Baldapara employed a sniffer dog that led to the Labor Labor Dukhua nearby, where, Foresters believed, the animal was beaten.
“From signs it seems that the animal was first attacked at the Dukhua line.
Leopard somehow managed to drag myself from the area and reached near the Gergenda Elementary School.
There the animal was killed, using large stones.
Hunting has been launched to arrest the perpetrators , “said a senior forest official.
More than 100 leopards have been saved from North Bengal for the past six years and in many cases, animals, which are coated as co-predators under the tiger conservation program, are saved from the tea garden.
The bushes of parks provide natural protection for these animals, which often hide in waterways, especially females when they will give birth.
The pile of leaves in the water channel acts as a natural pillow for them.
They usually take refuge in the tea area in the winter when there is no tea production.
In many cases this leads to human-animal conflicts, where leopards are often killed.
While in the garden, leopards often steal goats, pigs and other small animals belonging to park workers and villagers.