The boy’s half eaten remains were found 328 yards from his home near the Indian village of Prempuri. The animal also critically injured his four-year-old friend who was bitten through the neck. In a gruesome twist, the boy’s hands were found detached from the body with parts of his face and back missing as he was left thoroughly mauled.
This is the second leopard attack in just two days leading many to fear that one “man-eater” leopard is on the loose terrorising the area.
The pair of children had reportedly shouted for help after they spotted the predator stalking through the village.
Villagers searched for the boy for two days and found his body on Monday.
Indian authorities said they have set up cages to trap the leopards and launched a probe into the killing following the attacks.
Forest officer of the Bijnor Divisional, M. Semmaran, told Timesnownews: “Our staff have increased vigils and patrolling.”
But Najibad divisional Forest officer of the Bijnor Divisional, Manoj Shukla attempted to ease fears:
“We cannot declare it a man eater yet,” he said.
“The attacks were carried out in different areas. We are not sure if the same leopard is attacking the villagers.”
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Rosa King, 33, died of traumatic injuries after the “freak accident” at Hamerton Zoo Park in Cambridgeshire in 2017.
A new Preventing Future Deaths report by coroner Nicholas Moss revealed that there was a “very serious risk” of further casualties to the visiting public.
The report said: “Cicip could have walked out of the tiger enclosure into the public areas, where families with children had already been admitted.
“In fact, Cicip remained in the paddock. It was largely by chance, and by the later action of a zoo visitor and members of staff, that the risk of multiple casualties/fatalities did not materialise.
“Children had congregated by the open wooden gate. They could easily have been killed.”
The gates had reportedly been left open for up to an hour and 20 minutes.
The report also noted that the zoo did not have any firearms on site and relied on police officers being called in a “historic arrangement”.
Only one dart gun was available on site, which could only administer a sedative that would take 15 minutes to kick in, giving more scope for further attacks.
The coroner said limiting further human casualties was fully dependent on the response time of armed officers called to the rurally located zoo.
Since the horror, two staff members have received firearms training but the zoo has yet to secure its firearms licence, two years on from Rosa’s death.
Hamerton Zoo refused to comment.