Kathmandu - A wild leopard killed a nine-year-old girl outside her home in a village in central Nepal, local police said on Friday.
The girl was playing outside her home on Thursday evening when the animal pounced on her, said Narahari Adhikari, a police officer for Kaski, a district about 200 kilometres west of Kathmandu.
"A search by police officers and locals found her body in the forest about 200 metres from her home," he told dpa.
Emigration coupled with farmers moving away from traditional farming has caused growth of forest cover, which in turn has led to growing number of attacks by wild animals in rural Nepal, experts say.
Conflict between wild animals and humans has increased in recent months in Nepal, raising concerns about the safety of people living near forests and national parks.