Molecular investigation of three leopards death: A case of suspicious revenge killing

We report a case study wherein we established the putative cause of the death of three leopards by identifying the species and number of individual prey species from the gut contents using molecular tools. In a National Park within Northern part of India, the suspicious death of three leopards (Panthera pardus) was reported from different localities on the same day. The gut contents from the three leopard carcasses were collected during postmortem and sent to us to confirm the prey species. We used mitochondrial DNA cytochrome b (Cyt b) and control region (CR), and nuclear microsatellites for molecular identification of species and individual identification, respectively, from the gut contents. Mitochondrial sequences confirmed that the undigested remnants collected from the gut contents were of the domestic dog (Canis lupus familiaris). Furthermore, the microsatellite analysis of the gut contents highlighted the consumption of the same dog by all the three deceased leopards. Since the National Park was one of the major human-wildlife interaction zones, consuming the same dog by the leopards implies suspicious poisoning for revenge. The use of dog carcass for the possible poisoning for the mass-scale killing of the protected species is a severe wildlife offense.