Videos of Young Leopard Beaten to Death Go Viral on Social Media

Kathmandu. Video footage of a leopard being brutally killed in Jhapa has surfaced. In the footage, locals surround the leopard lying on the ground and attack it with sticks and sharp weapons. The scene is so gruesome that it can be disturbing. You might be disturbed by the graphic nature of the video. It is recommended that you do not proceed if it makes you uncomfortable.

In the video, one can be heard saying, “This, this, take it. Cut, cut. Hit it.” Anger is vented on the leopard using vulgar and offensive language as well. In the background, some people can also be heard pleading to stop, saying, “That's enough, that's enough.”

But those wielding sharp weapons do not stop; instead, they slash the leopard's body with knives and khukuris. In this way, one of the leopard's legs appears to have been cut off from its body.

Some people are saying that the leopard is ‘dead’ and that the knife in the hand was broken while attacking the leopard.

The video shared by X user ‘prajwal sharma’ on the night of March 23 at 9:21 is extremely heartbreaking because it contains gruesome scenes. Viewers are requested to watch it carefully.

A similar clip was shared by Instagram user ‘Irfaniacs’ on March 24. In the clip, it is clearly seen that the flesh of the leopard's thigh is being cut and distributed. A young man wearing a helmet cuts off the flesh of the leopard's thigh and gives it to another person. 

The incident of the brutal killing of a leopard has been claimed to have taken place in Buddhashanti Rural Municipality-4 of Jhapa. Facebook user ‘Deven Vlog’ has posted a different clip saying that a leopard has been seen in Buddhashanti-4 since morning. In the caption of the clip, he claims that the locals surrounded it and killed it with bamboo sticks and stones after it could not be controlled since morning.

The video, shot in the afternoon, shows the leopard running in a maize field, while youths with sticks in their hands are running aggressively towards it. Some individuals even pelted stones at the leopard. The video was released on the evening of March 23 at 5:30, and more than 588,000 people have already watched it. 

‘Deven Vlog’ has also posted another clip of the leopard in a dying state. In the clip, the leopard’s leg has been stripped of flesh, leaving only the bones behind. Sharp weapons have been seen cutting various parts of the body, including the mouth and stomach.

On a Facebook page named ‘Anusandhan HD,’ a video was posted on March 22 at 7:51 p.m., showing a leopard being carried in the evening. People are parading on the street as if celebrating a victory, holding the leopard’s legs from all sides and dangling it. Locals are also taking photos and videos using their mobile phone flashlights. The caption of the video claims that the control team did not arrive on time.

On Sunday night at 10:54, Facebook user ‘Sancha Raj Mabo’ uploaded a video with the caption ‘Barely saved my life, saw a leopard in Buddhashanti.’ In the video, locals, along with armed police, are seen chasing a leopard. The video shows the leopard being struck with sticks in a barren field.

From that same Facebook account, another video was published on March 23 at 11:26 in the morning. In that video, locals can be seen capturing the leopard and pressing a bamboo pole against its neck, then striking it with bamboo and sharp weapons.

The video of the leopard being killed in such a gruesome manner is from Buddhashanti Rural Municipality, Ward No. 4 of Jhapa. Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Khagendra Bahadur Khadka confirmed that the video was shot at around 6:00 pm on Sunday. The leopard was brutally killed in the maize field of a local named Kamal Khadka.

DSP Khadka said that police reached the scene after receiving information that a leopard was spotted around 1 PM. According to him, the leopard was initially found in the maize field, either injured or exhausted. He said, “It might have had an injury on its waist or leg because the leopard seen since the morning could not run away. It must have stayed in one place all day, only because it was injured. If it were in good condition, why would a leopard, one of the fastest-running animals, stay in one place?!”

According to him, a team was deployed from Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve in Sunsari in coordination with the Jhapa District Forest Office to restrain the leopard. However, the team arrived at the scene at around 5 to 6 in the evening. At that time, the presence of the area police, district police, armed police force, and employees of the division forest office was noted.

“The leopard got agitated after the team fired a ‘dart’ (sedative) to control it. During the incident, the leopard attacked people,” DSP Khadka said.

According to the police, four people have been injured by the leopard. Technical Armed Police Deputy Inspector Keshav Shrestha, 50-year-old Krishna Gajmer from Buddhashanti Rural Municipality-6, 54-year-old Durgabahadur Katuwal, and 26-year-old Bishal Karki of Mechinagar Municipality-10 were minorly injured. He stated that the leopard died on the same day, reportedly from beatings or other injuries caused by the locals.
 

Locals say: The leopard did not enter the village injured; the locals injured it.

Resident of Buddhashanti-4, Prajjwal Sharma, claims that the leopard was brutally killed due to the negligence of both the police and the administration. He said, “The place where the leopard was seen was close to the army camp. If they had wanted to, they could have prevented the people from approaching the leopard. They could have coordinated with the police and the wildlife reserve to rescue the leopard quickly. But that didn’t happen. The rescue team for the leopard, seen at 8 a.m., only arrived around 6 p.m.”

According to him, the leopard was spotted in the village at around 8 a.m. As soon as it was seen, locals gathered from various places. He claimed that the leopard appeared healthy in the morning, not injured. “The 30/40-foot-wide road was filled with a crowd of people. People had encircled it around the fields. Until the afternoon, the leopard remained in a condition that allowed him to escape. It didn’t look like a fully grown adult leopard. However, the locals injured it by hitting it with stones.”

He claimed that because thousands of people had formed a human chain to encircle it, the leopard had no way to escape to the forest. He said, “There is a forest about three kilometers to the north and south of where this incident occurred. But the leopard could not get to the forest.”

He recounted that the leopard, which was seen in the village around 8 in the morning, had not harmed anyone until the evening, and it was killed after a team from the wildlife reserve came and weakened it by giving it tranquilizers. “How can humans be so cruel? Indeed, the leopard is a violent animal. But how can humans be so merciless toward any animal? Thinking about this, I could not sleep all night.”

Kharo Khagendra, the director of the local media ‘Anusandhan Media’ in Jhapa, stated that he reached the scene around 12 noon. He stated that about five to seven hundred locals were gathered, pelting stones at the leopard to drive it away.

According to other residents, the duration of time it took to save the leopard that day and the fact that all the villagers were able to get near it led to its brutal death. Another local said, “The leopard was spotted at 8 in the morning, but by the time the rescue team arrived, it was already evening. The leopard became aggressive after being darted by the wildlife reserve team. Locals nearby were also attacked due to their proximity. However, letting the crowd get close was the administration's mistake.”

He claimed that the locals had killed the leopard with the intention of eating it. “The leopard’s throat, which was weakened by the dart, was pressed by the bamboo. His leg was also crushed. The leopard was killed with the intention of eating it. Some people have even slaughtered its flesh. It would have been understandable if they had killed it in self-defense, but killing him in such a brutal manner shows that the incident was intentional.”

The incident of a leopard entering the Kamai is unusual

According to Sher Bahadur Raya, the chairperson of Buddhashanti Rural Municipality-4, there have not been many incidents of leopard attacks in the area. He said, “Where did this leopard even come from? As soon as we received information that it was seen in the village around 8 a.m., local representatives had reached the scene. There was also a large presence of police and locals.”

He admitted that the crowd could not be controlled as thousands gathered. “After the sedative was administered by the wildlife reserve team, the leopard suddenly became agitated. When locals tried to stop it, it attacked them instead. When the leopard began to show violent behavior, the locals panicked. With more than a thousand people present, it was impossible to stop anyone. If that leopard had escaped and entered the settlement, it could have caused even more damage,” he said with conviction.

Although elephant attacks occasionally occur in the area, Ward Chairman Raya stated that occurrences of leopards venturing into the village are uncommon. 

Local wildlife conservationist says: The leopard was killed due to the craze for going viral

Local wildlife conservationists have described the brutal killing of a leopard in Buddhashanti, Jhapa, as a ‘heinous crime’ and the ‘pinnacle of human cruelty.’ Devendra Kumar Kharel, president of the Mechi Bird and Wildlife Conservation Society in Jhapa, stated that this incident was a planned killing rather than an act of self-defense from any perspective. According to Kharel, the leopard that strayed from the community forest in the Chure region and entered a maize field was not an adult but a juvenile, which people unnecessarily surrounded and provoked.

“As soon as the wild animal that had wandered into the fields was seen, there was a commotion, which caused the poor creature to panic,” Kharel said. He claimed that the recent trend of wrongdoings going ‘viral’ on social media was the main reason the situation turned worse. He argued that YouTubers and Facebook users, in the pretext of making videos, blocked the leopard from fleeing, which forced it to attack people to save its own life. Similarly, Kharel explained that even local representatives from distant places like Mechinagar arrived just to go viral, and instead of controlling the crowd, they made the situation even more chaotic.

The Division Forest Office is investigating the incident.

It has been reported that the Division Forest Office in Jhapa is handling the investigation of the incident. Amrit Bahadur Limbu, the information and assistant forest officer, disclosed that the office has appointed an investigation officer to look into the matter. He said, “Now the investigation officer will form an investigation committee as needed and conduct the investigation.” The report following the investigation will reveal whether the leopard was darted or not, and whether it was butchered.

The cremation of the leopard has been completed. On Monday (23 March), the last rites of the leopard were performed in the presence of local representatives and police. According to them, before the cremation, officials, including veterinarians, collected evidence from the deceased leopard's body. Limbu said, “If anyone is found guilty in this incident, action will be taken according to the National Park and Wildlife Conservation Act, 2029.”

When asked why the rescue team from Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve arrived late, he said, “The reason this problem occurred is also due to a shortage of manpower. We had informed them verbally. The sighting of a leopard is a new occurrence here. It takes about four hours to reach here from Sunsari. But they were assigned to another field. It seems it took time for them to reach here after going from the field to the office.” 
 

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