COLOMBO, June 25 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lankan police said on Monday that it had arrested four more people for killing a rare leopard in northern Sri Lanka last week, hours after two suspects were nabbed by the police on Sunday.
A police official told Xinhua the suspects between 22-26 years of age were broght before a local magistrate court and they were all remanded till June 29.
The Killinochchi Magistrate's Court had ordered the police to conduct a probe and arrest all those involved in killing the leopard last Wednesday.
Following this order, the police had taken into custody visuals of the killing, which was widely circulated on social media, to identify the perpetrators.
Local media reported last week that a group of villagers had brutally killed the leopard who had injured at least 10 villagers, including a wildlife official, as it hunted cattle and goats.
The villagers had then posed for photos with the dead animal, sparking anger on social media.
The Sri Lanka Wildlife Department has condemned the incident.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature listed the Sri Lankan leopard as an endangered animal in 2008.
Animal rights activists said the population of leopards in Sri Lanka which is not larger than 250 is declining due to a number of reasons, including poaching and human-leopard conflict.
