Jan 27, Colombo: Sri Lanka police have arrested a man who was selling the meat of a leopard, an endangered animal in Sri Lanka.

The police caught the suspect with the meat and he possessed the skin of the slain animal which he was planning to sell as well.

The man was selling the meat of the rare animal for a sum equivalent to less than US$ 3 for a kilogram.

He had killed the animal in the forest reserve near the sacred Sri Pada (Adam's Peak) in Bogawanthalawa area in Central Highlands of Sri Lanka. The area was declared as a World Heritage Site in 2010.

The leopard is a six feet long well grown animal, Bogawanthalawa police said.

Environmentalists say Sri Lanka's law that imposes light punishments for the offences like this is inadequate to safeguard nature.