Two leopards found dead in UP

Lucknow, March 26 (IANS) Two leopards were found dead in the jungles of Uttar Pradesh's Bahraich district, officials said Monday.

According to forest officials, the post-mortem report of the wild cats revealed that they were both strangulated to death, allegedly by poachers.

Regional forest officer (Katraniaghat Range) R.K. Singh discovered the two dead bodies at different places during routine combing of the Banghusri beat thickets under the Motipur range.

Officials told IANS that doctors who conducted the post-mortem exam on the two wild cats - a male and a female - reported that the femur bone of the male leopard was broken and the neck bone of the female leopard was fractured.

Both these, foresters say, were indicative of the act being the "handiwork of some poacher or hunters active in the region".

A probe has been ordered and efforts are on to trace the culprits, an official said.

Bahraich, which shares a border with Nepal, is 125 km from Lucknow.