Locals of the Tundikhel area of Bandipur municipality in Tanahun district have been asked to stay alert due to frequent sightings of leopards in the area.

Chairperson of Tundikhel Tole Development Committee in Bandipur, Tanahun, Kisan Pradhan said the residents were frightened as the big cat was being regularly seen in the area.

The parents have been requested not to let their children go out in the evening or early morning, Chair Pradhan said.

Lack of prey species in the forest, expansion of settlement into forest lands, and farmlands being turned into bushes are some of the reasons for the growing number of leopard attacks in the area and other adjoining areas in the Tanahun district.

As many as 13 children have been killed in leopard attacks in the last six years in the Tanahun district, according to the District Forest Office.