A wild leopard was rammed to death by a vehicle on Asian Highway 48 in Alipurduar on Tuesday evening.

Around 7.30pm, the incident occurred near Garganda bridge. The leopard, sources said, was male and around two years old.

Foresters suspect that the leopard came out of the Birpara tea estate and stepped into the highway when it was hit by the vehicle. In the darkness, the vehicle could not be identified.

Some residents spotted the carcass and informed foresters who then recovered it.

Sources said that since 2019, four leopards have died while crossing the four-lane highway.

“It is an unfortunate incident. People driving on the highway should be cautious while crossing stretches of forests and tea gardens to avert such accidents,” said Seema Choudhury, an honorary wildlife warden from Jalpaiguri.

2 dead in elephant attack

Jalpaiguri: Two elderly residents of Nagrakata block in Jalpaiguri district died in an elephant attack on Wednesday afternoon.

Harsingh Munda and Gopal Tamang, both aged 60 and residents of forest village Panjhora, had gone to the neighbouring Panjhora forest to collect fodder for cattle.

While they were cutting grass, a wild elephant attacked them. It trampled on Harsingh and he died on the spot. The animal then wrapped Gopal with its trunk and tossed him to the ground.

A seriously injured Gopal raised an alert. Some villagers rushed for help. They took the duo to the super-specialty hospital in Malbazar. Harsingh was declared dead and Gopal died soon after.

Police recovered the bodies. Foresters are probing if the incident occurred inside the formal ambit of the forest. If so, the next of kin of the duo would not get compensation.