Police shoot dead rare leopard in Indonesia

A rare Javan leopard was shot dead by police after it strayed into a village in Indonesia, police said Sunday. Police killed the animal on Saturday after it entered the village near Sukabumi city in West Java province, local police official Ardiansyah said.

"The black leopard made the villagers very anxious. They chased it and it ran towards a police school. Police shot it when it entered one of the classrooms," he said. Conflict between humans and animals are a rising problem in the massive archipelago nation with some of the world's largest remaining tropical forests, as human settlements encroach on natural habitats.

Conservation official Didi Wuryanto said police should have sought the help of forestry officials to trap the animal and return it to its habitat in Gunung Gede Pangrango national park instead of killing it. "The leopard might have been lost while chasing its prey or its habitat was disturbed by deforestation," he said. "There's been no record of the Javan leopard biting humans so it's a pity that it was shot when it could have been saved and released into the forest."

The Javan leopard, which is found only on the country's Java island, is listed as critically endangered under the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) "Red List" of threatened species. The number of mature Javan leopards, which are skilful tree climbers, is "certainly less than 250", the IUCN said.