As many as four animals including a leopard were killed on Saturday after being run over by a speeding vehicle on the national highway 37 in passing through Kaziranga national park in Assam.

The tragic development comes after several preventive measures introduced by the forest and transport departments.

In light of rising animal deaths on the highway due to vehicular movement, the authorities had earlier introduced several measures including setting a speed limit for vehicles for the stretch of road.

According to officials of the forest department, three hog deer along with the leopard were killed in the incident.

Officials said that the incident took place early today morning as the animals were trying to relocate to higher lands in the Karbi hills to save themselves from the rising water levels, following incessant rains in the state over the past week.

Authorities mentioned that it was common for animals to cross the highway on to the hills during floods, and hence the department had issued guidelines keeping in mind the safety of both animals and humans.

It may be noted the Bokakhat sub-divisional magistrate had imposed speed limits of 40 kilometers per hour on the stretch, installed speed trap cameras and deployed interceptors.

However, despite so many measures, carelessness on the part of people travelling through lead to unwanted animal deaths.

The official order read, “During high flood season, the wild animals of the Kaziranga national park have a natural tendency to migrate for shelter towards the Karbi Anglong Hills thereby crossing NH-37.”

“While migrating, there is every likelihood of wild animals falling prey to the hands of miscreants or meeting with accidents that may put the lives of passengers as well as wild animals at risk,” it added.

The order further stated, “There are sufficient grounds to regulate the speed of the vehicles and impose restrictions in the scheduled area, so as to protect human lives and wild animals.”