The perpetrators are yet to be identified. (Photo: ANI)

The carass of a leopard with its paws cut off was found yesterday in Gothangaon forest area in the Gondia district of Maharashtra.

A postmortem report revealed that the body had two bullet wounds.

The perpetrators are yet to be identified.

It comes days after a Buddhist monk was killed by a leopard while he was meditating under a tree in Ramdegi forest in Maharashtra's Chandrapur district. The deceased had been meditating at the spot for the past month, an official said.

The highest number of leopard deaths this year were recorded in Uttarakhand with the number standing at 93 followed by Maharashtra with 90 deaths.

India is home to between 12,000 and 14,000 leopards, according to a study commissioned by the Wildlife Institute of India in 2016.

According to Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI), around 460 leopard deaths have been recorded across the country this year. It is the highest number from the last four years.

Last month, a tigress named Avni was shot dead in the Ralegaon forests of Yavatmal district in eastern Maharashtra. There was a lot of controversy and allegations of violation of norms during her killing.

As per the Supreme Court directives, the forest department and officials were required to first tranquilise and trap her, but during the operation, she allegedly attacked the stalking team which shot her.

Earlier in December, Minister of State for Environment Mahesh Sharma revealed to the Lok Sabha that nearly 50 tigers have died this year in India. While 13 tiger deaths were recorded in Madhya Pradesh, 10 tiger deaths were recorded in Karnataka till December 12, 2018.