Leopard Escapes Farm and Kills 9-Year-Old Girl on Giza Outskirts

Strange and tragic news is emerging of a nine-year-old Egyptian girl who was killed by a leopard that escaped a wildlife farm in a village south of Cairo on Sunday.

According to Al-Arabiya, Amany Mohamed Fadeel was walking home carrying her baby brother in the village of Kafr Hamid when out of nowhere a leopard fatally attacked her. Nearby villagers are said to have witnessed the attack and subsequently carried the infant away from the scene; as such, the infant that the young girl was carrying was unharmed, but tragically Amany died on the way to the hospital succumbing to her wounds.

Upon hearing of the attack, villagers came together and managed to scare away the leopard from the area with weapons. The leopard was being raised by the owner of a nearby farm, who is claiming that the little girl had wandered onto his land and was killed after the encounter. Villagers in the area alleged that the farmer had a license to raise animals as pets, but that the farmer expanded his operation to raise dangerous animals to sell to zoos. After word emerged that the girl had died, the villagers attempted to break into the farm and kill all the other wild animals but were stopped by police who arrested the farmer and killed the leopard.

There are claims that the leopard escaped days before the attack and was sited prowling on the edges of the Giza district. As it stands prosecution is investigating the incident and looking to see whether the farmer could face charges.