Bijnor, Feb 9 (IANS): Just within a span of ten days, carcass of another female leopard was found in a sugarcane field at Baharia village in Uttar Pradesh's Bijnor district, officials said on Sunday.

The discovery of the leopard carcass comes days after a five-year-old leopard was hit by a running train in Haldaur in Bijnor district on January 30. This is the seventh case of leopard death in west UP this year.

According to sources, the carcass seemed to be three or four days old. Since there were no apparent injury marks, officials suspect that the big cat succumbed to some disease. The carcass has been sent for post mortem.

Sub divisional forest officer Imtiaz Siddiqui who reached the spot on being informed, said that the real cause of death could be ascertained only after the autopsy report is received.

Three leopards were killed by villagers in Bijnor, Moradabad and Badaun, respectively, while the fourth died of age-related issues in Bulandshahr.

Two leopards were killed in road and rail accidents earlier last month.

Since November 27, six people have been mauled to death by big cats in west UP and three of the victims hailed from Bijnor.

Experts fear that the increase in man-animal conflict will serve as a boon for hunting tribes and poachers. The wild animals whether alive or dead will end up in wildlife trade as official agencies have not been able to stem the growing crisis.