Panther stoned to death near Amber

JAIPUR: A panther was beaten and stoned to death at Harvar village near Amber early on Saturday morning. The animal, which had entered the village from the nearby hills, had reportedly attacked alteast four persons before it was killed.
According to sources, it was around 5.30 am when villagers in the area woke up to an alarm raised by a man after the panther went for a kill from among the livestock in the village.
The villagers soon got together and chased the animal with sticks, sickles and stones and other arms. The panther tried to escape, but could not find its way out and fell victim to stones pelted by the mob. Thereafter, the villagers surrounded the panther and repeatedly beat it. It died on the spot.
Later, the villagers claimed that the Big Cat had attacked and injured atleast four other persons before it had gone for the kill.
As the news of the animal's death spread, forest department officials rushed to the spot. They conducted a post-mortem of the animal. According to forest officials, the animal should not have been beaten to death.
"We have taken the matter seriously. "We have sent a team of officials to the spot. They would look into the matter and we plan to file an FIR against all those guilty. The panther is a Schedule I animal but is very resilient. It should not have been killed," said an official.
According to the chief wildlife warden, Rajasthan, R N Mehrotra, "It is a very sad incident. People should not behave in this way with animals. Else we will loose all of them. In fact, our guard, who was present at the venue tried to stop the mob, but was not heard. Later, some of our officials too were manhandled. It is natural for the animal to venture in there but it did not harm anyone."