A leopard that mauled 11 people in a fierce showdown
with Indian villagers has died of knife wounds after being captured.
The adult male leopard leapt at locals and forest officials as they
tried to drive it back toward a wildlife sanctuary in West Bengal state
after it wandered into the village near Siliguri, about 600 kilomtres
from Kolkata.
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Forestry officials were forced to flee, dive for cover and even climb up
on a jeep to escape the leopard's attacks.
The forest official Dharma Dev Rai says villagers used knives, stones
and batons to beat back the cat.
It injured six villagers, a policeman and four forest guards before
being hit with a tranquilliser gun on Tuesday. The people are recovering
from their injuries, mostly swipes from the cat's claws.
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The injured animal died within hours, and a post-mortem was being
conducted.
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