Forest and police personnel were all perked up from Sunday afternoon till late at night on the same day when the leopard that strayed into a plot near the railway track in a densely populated area within the Kannur Corporation was captured.
Officials of the Forest Department and the police had been on tenterhooks since the time the wild cat was spotted near the railway track, which is hardly a kilometre from the Kannur railway station.
The officials were more anxious about the safety of the people who poured in from nearby areas occupy vantage spots including the railway tracks to see the leopard and the process of its capture.
Relieved
The officials could only heave a sigh of relief when the animal had been caught at around 11 p.m. after firing tranquiliser shots by the Forest Department’s veterinary surgeon.
“We were more worried about the safety of the people because if tranquilising shot misses, the leopard might start running into the crowds or residential areas,” Divisional Forest Officer Sunil Pameedi said. The shot, however, hit the muscles and the tranquilisation was effective, he said, adding the sedated animal had been immediately shifted to the cage that was kept ready.
The Forest officials said the animal, aged around six, was healthy and suffered no injuries. Normally, the forest area where the tiger would be released would be a place where there was no resident leopard, he added.
Where the leopard came from and how it reached here still remained a mystery for forest officials here. The nearest forest being about 50-60 km away, they said that it could not have come here overnight by covering that much distance. So it would have taken two or three nights before it strayed into the area. Another theory was that it could have entered the rake of a long-distance goods train from somewhere and got down here when the train stopped.
Veterinarian P.V. Mohanan, who recently visited the Bandipur and Nagarhole areas in Karnataka where forest fires were raging, said the leopard could also have come that area in search of food and water.
Leopard taken to Neyyar
Staff Reporter adds from Thiruvananthapuram that the leopard was brought to the Neyyar Wildlife Sanctuary on Monday.
While the leopard was reportedly taken to the Thrissur zoo and kept under observation, the animal was later brought to Neyyar by a team led by veterinary surgeon Arun Zachariah.
Sources said that the wild cat would be subjected to medical examination to find whether it had sustained any injuries.
The animal is likely to be released into the forest at a later stage.
