Minimal forest staff around leopard’s hideout in Coimbatore to ease capture

January 20, 2022 09:49 pm | Updated January 21, 2022 07:34 am IST - COIMBATORE

The Forest Department staff keeping a vigil around the warehouse at B.K. Pudur on Thursday.

The Forest Department staff keeping a vigil around the warehouse at B.K. Pudur on Thursday.

The Forest Department on Thursday reduced the number of staff on duty around the warehouse at B.K. Pudur in Coimbatore in which a leopard sought shelter on Monday.

The move was to ensure natural ambience and absence of humans on the warehouse premises which could prompt the carnivore to make attempts to get out of the building.

The department had already blocked the two doors with cages. The trap system of the cage will operate if the leopard steps inside it.

District Forest Officer T.K. Ashok Kumar told The Hindu that there were only a minimum number of staff at the place from Thursday morning. Public are also not allowed to visit the place.

He said that the staff had blocked the view to one of the cages from outside using a green sheet. As the back door of the building was covered by a wall the cage placed there could not be seen from outside. Live baits kept in both cages were also removed to create a tranquil atmosphere.

“We hope that the animal will attempt to come out through any of the doors on Thursday night,” he said.

He added that the water dripping system arranged at the cages on Wednesday had in fact attracted the leopard as it attempted to step into one of the cages in the early hours of Thursday.

Water can was placed on top of both cages with a hole to drip water into the container kept inside.

Forest Veterinary Officer A. Sukumar felt that the leopard will definitely attempt to come out if it feels that there are no humans around.

Assistant Conservator of Forests C. Dinesh Kumar said that the leopard was remaining calm inside the building as if it used to frequent it.

In normal cases, when a leopard gets trapped in a building, it would become restless and aggressive. It would also attempt to make an escape at the earliest.

Shrubs and thickets grown at the backside of the warehouse would have attracted the animal to seek shelter there, he said.

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