A leopard, which strayed into a village, got entangled in an old trap laid for small wild animals and died on Thursday.
The Deputy Range Forest Office in Hiriyadka got a call around 8.30 a.m. informing him that a leopard was struggling to get out of a trap at Kudi village near Hiriyadka in Udupi district.
“When we went there, we saw the leopard was trapped in an old trap,” said Prakash Poojary, Range Forest Officer.
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A team of Forest officials called up the veterinary doctors of Pilikula Nisagara Dhama near Mangalore to come with tranquillizing gun. But before the vets could come the wild cat breathed its last around 11 a.m. “The more it tried to get out of the trap, the more it became entangled,” said Mr. Poojary.
The carcass of the leopard was then taken to the Veterinary Hospital in Hiriyadka village and the postmortem was conducted there. After the post-mortem, the carcass of the leopard was taken to the nearby Panchanbettu forest. The carcass was burnt and buried there by 2 p.m. “The post-mortem, burning and burial had been filmed,” said Assistant Conservator of Forests Satish Rai.
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The Forest Department would be conducting an investigation on how the leopard strayed into the village and how it got trapped. “It is not a recent trap. It appeared to be an old one.
The leopard must be seven or eight years old. We are not sure on whose land was the trap laid. That will be clear only after investigations,” said Mr. Poojary.
According to Mr. Rai, the leopard died because its respiratory tract got damaged. “But things would be clear only after getting the post-mortem report. Usually leopards come in search of dogs or calves,” he said.