A leopard was found dead with its claws missing in a forest in Chhattisgarh's Dhamtari district on Friday, a forest official said.
The carcass of the animal, aged around three years old, was found in Dinkarpur forest area under Dugli forest range, more than 100 km away from capital Raipur, said Harish Pandey, sub-divisional officer (forest).
"All the claws of the animal were missing, giving raise to the suspicion about poaching. The cause of the death was not immediately known as the post-mortem is awaited," the official said.
Samples from the carcass have been sent for forensic analysis, he said.
Meanwhile, forest personnel have launched a search in the area along with a sniffer dog squad to trace people involved in the offence, he said.
In 2017, a leopard was found dead in the same area but it was a natural death, forest officials said.
In June this year, a leopard was found dead with its body parts missing in neighbouring Gariaband district, while a tiger was poisoned to death in Guru Ghasidas National Park of Korea district, they said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Leopard Found Dead After Attack On Man In Rajasthan: Official 2 Leopards Of Dudhwa Tiger Reserve Found Dead In UP's Lakhimpur Kheri State Board Exams To Be Held Twice A Year In Chhattisgarh Amazon Employee Greets Friend At Wedding, Dies Of Cardiac Arrest TIME Magazine Shares Elon Musk's To-Do List, He Responds This Asian City Is Emerging As Sex Tourism Hub. It's Not Where You Think Check Marking Scheme Of CBSE Class 10 Mathematics Paper Delhi Continues To Breathe Toxic Air, AQI At 371, Trains Delayed Entrepreneurs Pitch Business Ideas Using Zomato CEO's Unique Job Offer Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.