COLOMBO, June 2 (Xinhua) -- Days after a rare black leopard died from injuries after being trapped in a snare in Sri Lanka, another brown leopard was found dead, after being trapped in a snare in Galle, in southern Sri Lanka on Tuesday, the Department of Wildlife said in a statement.
Wildlife Conservation Department Director General M.G.C. Sooriyabandara told local journalists that the leopard was first spotted and captured by a wildlife officer in Neluwa, after which he informed the relevant officials.
The leopard belonged to the Sri Lankan leopard species known as the "Panthera Pardus."
A postmortem will be carried out by the wildlife doctors.
Sooriyabandara said they hoped to take legal action against the owner of the land in which the leopard was found as they suspected that the snare was set by the landowner.
This is the second leopard death reported in Sri Lanka within a week after wildlife officials found a rare black leopard in the central highlands of Nallathanniya on May 26, trapped in a snare and heavily injured.
The leopard died from injuries after days of treatment.
Wildlife officials said the survival of the Sri Lankan leopard is threatened due to habitat loss and fragmentation primarily with some levels of direct poaching and direct and indirect human-leopard related leopard deaths. Enditem
