COLOMBO, June 23 (Xinhua) -- One leopard was killed and another seriously injured when they were trapped in a snare in Pussellawa in Sri Lanka's central highlands on Tuesday, making it the third leopard killed in weeks, the Department of Wildlife Conservation said.
Director General of the Department of Wildlife Conservation M.G.C Sooriyabandara was quoted by the local media as saying that officials were engaged in retrieving the injured leopard and doctors on ground had sedated the animal.
Rescue operations were ongoing to save and treat the injured animal.
Sooriyabandara said an investigation had been launched as to who had set up the snares and legal action would be taken against the poachers.
Earlier this month, a rare black leopard died from injuries after being trapped in a snare in Sri Lanka, after which another brown leopard was found dead in the southern coastal town of Galle.
Wildlife officials said the survival of the Sri Lankan leopard is threatened due to habitat loss and fragmentation primarily with some levels of poaching and human-related leopard deaths. Enditem
