Rajkot: A passenger train struck and killed a female leopard along with her two cubs on the outskirts of Dhoraji town on late Friday night. The incident occurred as a Bhavnagar-Porbandar local passenger train, en route to Porbandar, crossed the Bhadar river bridge around 8 pm.

The forest officers explained that the leopards were on the narrow river bridge when the train was coming from the opposite side. Due to the restricted space on the narrow river bridge, the leopards had no means of escape when the train approached. The collision resulted in severe head injuries, causing the immediate death of the leopardess and her two cubs.

It is learned that the leopardess was approximately three to five years old, while her cubs were around eight to nine months old, with one being male and the other female.

Upon reaching the site at around 8:30 pm, the forest officials found the lifeless bodies of the three leopards beside the railway track on the bridge deck.

The passenger train moved ahead with the journey; however, the Bhavnagar division of Western Railway reported the incident to the forest department.

It is noteworthy that these fatalities mark the first instances of leopard deaths on railway tracks in Rajkot district in recent history. DeshGujarat