Locals of Matatirtha in Thankot killed an adult leopard on Monday night in what is seen as a retaliatory attack.

The male leopard that supposedly strayed out of a nearby jungle had tried to attack a local.

A group of villagers attacked the wild animal later with sticks and stones, said Indra Prasad Sapkota, the Kathmandu district forest officer (DFO).

According to him, the district authorities were informed only after the leopard succumbed to injuries inflicted all over its body. “We are looking into the matter. The locals or police authorities should have informed us about the leopard sighting so that we could have rescued it safely,” Sapkota said.

The police informed the DFO that the leopard had tried to attack eight locals. The carcass was sent for postmortem to the Central Zoo where it was found that the animal died of brain haemorrhage. It was buried on the DFO office premises in Hattisar.

There have been increasing cases of leopards entering human settlements in recent months. A preliminary study conducted by Asish Bista found that leopards tend to enter human settlements that have a high number of dogs and favourable vegetation.

The three-month study supported by the National Trust for Nature Conservation and the World Bank covered 51 villages of Kathmandu Valley.