May 03, 2024 08:38 AM IST
The villagers had been complaining of a leopard menace for the last three months, following which the forest department installed a cage a month ago
Hours after a leopard was caught in a snare trap in a forest plantation in Mallinathapura village, in Periyapatna taluk, the forest officials in Periyapatna in Mysuru district on Thursday launched a probe after rescuing the animal.
The officials said that the villagers had been complaining of a leopard menace for the last three months, following which the forest department installed a cage a month ago to catch the animal. However, they failed.
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On Thursday morning, the leopard was found caught in a snare trap by the villagers.
Nanjappa Gowda, one of the villagers, said: “While going to my agriculture field, I saw the leopard trapped in a cable wire trap in the forest. The leopards have been troubling villagers for many months, and due to drought, the menace has increased in recent times. We were asking officials to catch the leopards and shift to faraway places, but officials did not catch them.” Following the incident, the villagers reported the matter to the forest officials who soon came to the area and rescued the animal.
Periyapatna RFO Y K Kiran Kumar said: “At around 7 am, we received the information that a leopard was caught in a snare trap. We rushed to the spot along with veterinary doctor Ramesh. He administered a dose of tranquilliser, and then we freed the animal from the trap. The villagers had been complaining of a leopard menace in the region for the last three months, but we could not find the it.”
The male leopard, about 4-5 years old, was trapped in the trap that was put by the villagers to catch wild boars, which used to destroy crops, he said.
The official said that the villagers have been instructed not to put any kind of snare traps that kill wild animals, which is a serious offence.
“During checkup, we found that the leopard was healthy and did not receive any wounds. We released the animal to DB Kuppe Range Forest under the Nagarhole Wildlife Sanctuary,” he added.
