A speeding vehicle ran over an adult leopard at Bokpara under the Jokai Forest beat in Assam’s Dibrugarh on Saturday.

The leopard was killed in the incident that took place today morning, informed forest department officials. They said that locals spotted the carcass lying and called in the forest department who came and recovered the dead leopard.

An official said, “We have recovered a carcass of leopard at Bokpara by-pass on National Highway 37. As, per preliminary observation, a speeding vehicle killed the animal while the animal tried to cross the road.”

This is the second time such incident occurred in the area, they official said.

A Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) veterinarian, Khanin Changmai said, “The leopard was killed after speeding vehicle run over him. His bones were broken. The animal was very badly hit by the vehicle when he was crossing the road. The carcass of the animal was burned at Jokai reserve forest as per the procedure.”

“It was an unfortunate incident and it has been repeatedly happening. Many animals lost their lives while crossing roads. I urged the people to drive slowly near forest areas where animals often cross the roads,” he added.

Notably, in December, last year, another speeding vehicle had killed a female leopard at Pub Banipur area in Dibrugarh.