Nanjangud:  A four-year-old leopardess and two cubs were found dead under suspicious circumstances at Hallare village in Nanjangud taluk yesterday.

While the carcass of a cub and mother leopard were found in the field of one Mohammad Pasha, the carcass of another cub was found in another agricultural field abutting it, belonging to Chennananjappa. Both the cubs (a male and a female) are said to be about five-months-old.

However, the reason behind their death is yet to be ascertained as the viscera has been collected and sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory in Mysuru for tests.

DCF (Mysuru Division) Dr. Prashanth Kumar said that he received information about the dead leopards in the afternoon. It was found that the carcass of a cub and mother lay on one field and that of another cub at  another field abutting it.

There were neither injury marks on the bodies nor any attempt to remove the body parts, especially the claws. Upon post-mortem, it was found that the stomach of the leopard and two cubs were empty, he said.

He further said that as the pugmarks of the leopards were not found in nearby fields, there is a possibility that the dead animals might have been dumped here.

While it is confirmed that it is a case of unnatural death, the exact cause will be known from the lab report, he added.

Sources said that the distance between the carcasses was very little and no injury marks were found on them. It is suspected that the wild cats might have been poisoned to death on Saturday.

Veterinarians Dr. Nagaraj and Dr. Shivakumar conducted the autopsy.

Hallare village is located five km away from Omkar Range of Bandipur Forest.