Three persons have been arrested by the Police over the killing of a leopard at the Udawalawe National Park.
The suspects, arrested at Kumarapura, Sevanagaka have been handed over to the Sevanagala Police for further investigations.
A leopard had been killed in the proximity of Mau Ara reservoir near the Udawalawe National Park and its forelegs were severed while its teeth were extracted by the poacher.
Environmentalists claimed that the inactivity of the authorities attached to the Udawalawe National Park has resulted in this situation.
Sri Lankan leopard (Panthera pardus kotiya) is a predatory mammal and a leopard subspecies native to the island.
Asian subspecies of leopards were assessed as ‘Endangered’ and ‘Critically Endangered’ on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List in 2008.
