A 2-year-old female leopard that got stuck in a chicken wire, used to protect crops, was tranquillised and relocated by the Nilgiris North Forest Division on late Wednesday night.
The leopard was spotted by residents of Theenatti village in the Kattabettu Forest Range in the Nilgiris North Forest Division on Wednesday. Forest department staff who arrived at the scene found that the animal had got entangled in the chicken wire.
C. Siva, Forest Range Officer, Kattabettu Range, said the animal’s legs and its tail had got entangled in the mesh and it could not extricate itself. Based on the instructions of the District Forest Officer, S Kalanidhi, it was decided that the team, with the help of a forest veterinarian, would tranquillise the animal before safely disentangling it from the mesh.
Minor bruises
A dart was used to tranquillise the leopard. Forest staff cut the mesh, extricated the animal and put it in a cage. They used another drug to reverse the effects of the tranquilliser. Forest staff checked the animal for long-term injuries it could have sustained, but found that it had only minor bruises.
Forest staff released the animal in Lakidi.
