Sunil Haleangady
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru

Mangaluru, Jun 7: A two-year-old male leopard was trapped in a snare that had been placed in between a hillock and a field belonging to Sharada of Mittakurmbil at Aikala near Kinnigoli on Sunday June 7.

The leopard was later taken to Pilikula Nisargadhama by forest officials.

The locals on Saturday June 6 night, while returning from some programme, had heard ceaseless barking of a dog and cry of a wild animal. On Sunday morning, on checking, they found a leopard trapped in a snare and struggling to escape. The locals immediately informed the forest department.

Kinnigoli forest range officer Parameshwar and other officials arrived at the spot. Parameshwar also informed the officials of Moodbidri forest department and Pilikula Nisargadhama, who came along with veterinary doctors.

The leopard was administered a tranquilizer, after which, with the help of the locals, it was freed from the snare and tranferred into a net. Thereafter, Pilikula animal husbandry officer Dr Gerald Lobo and animal care taker Dinesh Kumar administered first aid to the leopard, and took it it to Pilikula Nisargahama.

The entire operation lasted for about two hours.

Speaking to reporters, Sharada, near whose field the incident took place, said, "From several months domestic animals and poultry birds of this area kept disappearing but the leopard remained elusive due to the dense hillock. It is not very often that leopards return to forest once they start getting their prey easily."

Moodbidri forest range officer said G D Dinesh said, "Leopards are increasingly straying into human habitats and creating havoc nowadays. This is mainly because of deforestation and other such reasons. In the last three years, we have received almost 200 complaints from around Moodbidri and we have been successful in catching leopards in seven places."