Forest minister orders probe into leopard death

Mysuru: Forest minister Eshwar B Khandre has ordered a thorough investigation into the death of a leopard by gunshot in Koppa division, near Periyapatna range in Hunsur territorial range on Monday.Hunsur DCF RT Kirubananthan said a team has been formed to track down the miscreants.A two-year-old leopardess was found dead with gunshot injuries. The carcass was destroyed after completing the formalities.Meanwhile, the forest minister in a written directive to the chief wildlife warden, expressed sorrow over the incident where a leopardess was found dead from gunshots, indicating that poaching for organs of wild animals is still on. He has called for an investigation into the matter.Dr Adarsh, who conducted a postmortem of the deceased leopard, reported finding three bullets inside the leopardess' body. Based on this report, Khandre has instructed a comprehensive investigation to identify and legally prosecute the wildlife poachers.