Ghaziabad, Dec 11 (IANS): A leopard was found dead in Ghaziabad's Loni area Thursday, an official said, adding the animal seems to have died of natural causes.

The animal was first spotted by Kishan Pal Singh, a local farmer of Pachehra village of Loni, when he went to his agriculture field. The terrified villager returned home and told the other villagers that a leopard was sleeping in his field.

The villagers informed the forest department which rushed the spot with all arrangements to nab the leopard unhurt. But they found that the animal was motionless and coming nearer, found the big cat was dead.

"We have transported the carcass of the animal to our nursery in Sanjay Nagar area. A veterinary doctor was summoned to perform the post-mortem. The doctor revealed that the leopard died a natural death. A fungus was found in its front right leg. He was an old animal in the age group of 13-14 years," said Divisional Forest Officer Joga Singh.