COLOMBO, June 23 (Xinhua) -- The Sri Lankan police on Saturday said it had launched an investigation into the killing of a rare leopard by a group of villagers in Killinochchi in northern Sri Lanka earlier this week.

Police Spokesperson SP Ruwan Gunasekara told Xinhua the Killinochchi Magistrate's Court on Friday ordered the police to conduct a probe and arrest all those involved in killing the leopard.

Following this order, the Killinochchi Police had taken into custody visuals of the killing, which was widely circulated on social media, to identify the perpetrators.

"We are in the process of identifying all those involved. Very soon we will arrest them," Gunasekara said.

Local media reported earlier this 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 posted 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 Endangered in 2008.

Animal rights activists said the population of leopards in Sri Lanka which is not larger than a mere 250 animals is declining due to a number of reasons which includes poaching and also the human-leopard conflict.