12 killed, 29 injured in leopard attacks in Uttarakhand this year

Dehradun: At least 12 people have died and 29 others have been injured in leopard attacks in Uttarakhand in the first five months of this year, according to forest department data. The department recorded 18 deaths in leopard attacks in 2025, 15 in 2024 and 18 in 2023.

The latest victim was 60-year-old MC Malasi, who was killed in Kamand village of Pauri block. Villagers said Malasi had gone to collect fodder for cattle when a leopard attacked him. His mutilated body was found nearby around 8 pm.

Pauri range officer Nakshatra Shah said 55 camera traps, four cages and shooters had been deployed after the incident. “An initial ex-gratia amount of Rs 4 lakh has been handed over to the victim’s widow,” he said.

Another leopard attack had taken place on April 23 in Bamthi village, around 15 km from Kamand, in which a woman was killed, triggering panic among residents.

Residents expressed anger over the incident, claiming they had repeatedly alerted the forest department about leopard movement in the area after attacks on livestock and commuters. “We had earlier informed the department about the possibility of a leopard in the area as the animal had attacked livestock and commuters,” said Sadhan Devi, village head of neighbouring Thali village.

Villagers staged a protest on Saturday and raised slogans against the department. The protest ended after officials assured residents that efforts would be made to trap or eliminate the leopard.

Senior forest officials said measures such as thermal cameras, drones and increased manpower in sensitive forest beats were being used to reduce encounters. They added that a leopard population estimation exercise was also being planned to formulate landscape-specific strategies to tackle human-wildlife conflict in the state.