By Madhusudhan Timalsina, Kavrepalanchowk, Feb. 4: A leopard, which had been attacking humans and feeding on their livestock, was killed in a human-wildlife conflict on Monday when it entered the human settlement for the third time in a row.

The leopard had attacked Saraswati Kayastha on Saturday and a student on her way to school on Sunday.

Following daily attacks by the leopard, villagers had planned to capture it when it came back. When the leopard came on Monday, locals of Ward 6 of Panchkhal Municipality and Ward 11 of Dhulikhel Municipality tried to capture it.

“We had planned to capture it. But it was killed while we were trying to protect ourselves,” said Ram Sharan Dulal, Ward 6 chairman of Panchkhal.

The leopard injured six individuals during the conflict before the villagers killed it.

“When we and officials from division forest office reached the scene, the leopard was already dead,” said Superintendent of Police Rabi Kumar Poudel, chief of Kavrepalanchowk district police.

With six persons injured during the clash with leopard on Monday, the wild cat injured eight individuals – Arjun Shrestha, Krishna Bahadur Shrestha, Baikustha Kayastha, Laxmi Shrestha, Bhim Kumari Satyal, Saraswati Kayastha, Kumar BK and Narayan Prasad Badal – in total.

The injured are undergoing treatment at Dhulikhel Hospital while some have been referred to Kathmandu as well. According to Dhulikhel Hospital, three individuals are in critical condition.

Other than attacking humans, the leopard had been eating livestock at Bhumlu Gaunpalika of Kavrepalanchowk. More than 10 goats are said to have been killed by the leopard making it risky for locals to move freely.

As per the record of Divisional Forest Office, Kavrepalanchowk, 13 individuals have been killed by wild animals in the last ten years.