Bhubaneswar: Two persons in Odisha’s Nuapada district allegedly killed a leopard and ate its meat, officials said on Wednesday.

Principal Chief Conservator of Forst (PCCF) Susanta Nanda said people who kill leopard and consume its meat should be ostracised.

The forest officials of Komna forest range on Tuesday seized the severed leopard head, skins and meat and arrested two persons from the spot.

The two and their associates laid a trap to hunt wild boars near the forest in Deodhara village. However, a leopard fell into the trap. “They killed the leopard and consumed its meat”, the PCCF said.

Condemning the eating of leopard meat, Nanda said such behaviour has no place in a civilized society and people who kill leopard and consume its meat should be ostracised.

“This kind of people should be socially ostracised. The people should be aware that this is not acceptable in a civil society” he said Describing the eating of leopard meat by the two persons as “barbaric”, Nanda said: “In my long career as a forest department officer, I have never heard a human being eating meat of leopard or tiger. It is common that tigers kill humans and eat their flesh. This is a unique incident in the state”.