The discovery of a leopard carcass at Bannerghatta National Park (BNP) on Tuesday has thrown up questions about the procedures followed by the Forest Department on rescuing the shy felines.
The seven-year-old male leopard had been trapped in a snare at Kethohalli, off Mysuru Road, on Sunday. Forest officials who arrived to rescue the leopard used tranquiliser darts. The three-hour operation ended with the sedated leopard being put in a cage.
Directly released
Later, veterinarians from the Bannerghatta Biological Park (BBP) inspected the animal and declared it healthy. The leopard was directly released into BNP, rather than being taken for further treatment and observation at the treatment centre of BBP, said park sources.
“Considering the trauma of the operation and the injuries it had suffered while in the snare, it should have been brought to BBP for a few days. Only when it is observed to be of normal behaviour and frame of mind should it have been released,” said a park worker.
Traumatic experience
The traumatic experience seemed to have affected the animal. It was spotted by BNP in an immobile state on Monday.
“Generally, healthy leopards run away on seeing humans. But this one was lying by the road itself. We called veterinarians from BBP but it was difficult to tranquilise the animal and treat it. It retreated into a thicket, and because of the rain, we had to call off the operation,” said Sunil Panwar, Deputy Conservator of Forests, BNP.
‘Dehydrated and starved’
On Tuesday morning, however, the leopard was found dead. Prima facie, officials said, the leopard seemed dehydrated and starved.
The autopsy revealed that the leopard had not eaten in days and that it had a massive haemorrhaging in the heart. “This is a common symptom of an animal under stress. The leopard was in the snare on Sunday for more than five hours, and then the rescue operation must have added to the stress,” said Santosh Kumar, Executive Director of BBP.
