Police shoot dead wild tiger in Nepal

Police in southern Nepal have shot dead a wild tiger after it injured nine people including four policemen.

The wild cat left its habitat at Parsa Wildlife Reserve early Tuesday and entered Lakhanpur village in Parsa district, said Chakra Raj Joshi, deputy superintendent of police.

Local children spotted the animal near a pond and raised the alarm, Joshi said.
"The villagers gathered around it and began to chase it using homemade weapons. But it retaliated by attacking them," he said, adding that the animal was killed on Tuesday afternoon.

Five locals and four policemen were among the injured.
Nepal is home to 198 endangered wild tigers, of which seven live in the wildlife reserve near the border with India.
An estimated 3890 tigers live in the wild, mostly in Asia, according to conservation group World Wildlife Fund.

Their numbers have shrunk due to poaching, hunting and habitat loss.

Although tiger attacks are rare in Nepal, human-wild animal conflicts are common, raising concerns about the safety of people living near protected areas

Source:www.news.com.au