Officials of the forest department announced the capture of a leopard from a hut at Balusulanka village near Mummidivaram in the early hours of Friday, putting an end to 10 days of panic among residents of coastal villages in East Godavari district.
The leopard was shifted to the Animal Rescue Centre at Visakhapatnam under the supervision of veterinary surgeons.
The leopard was first spotted at Ankampalem village near Atreyapuram on February 4, where it injured four residents. A trap was laid for it by forest officials, but the leopard managed to escape. It later reappeared at Balusulanka on Thursday morning where it attacked two villagers.
When the villagers retaliated, the leopard tried to escape and entered an abandoned hut, which the villagers promptly locked from the outside and alerted officials. With the help of veterinary surgeons and personnel from the police and revenue departments, the forest officials made a series of attempts to capture the leopard holed inside the hut.
Rescue mission
“We are able to give the leopard a sedative on Thursday midnight. After it lost consciousness, we trapped it in a special cage and shifted it to Rajamahendravaram,” Anant Shankar, Divisional Forest Officer, told The Hindu .
Veterinary surgeons began administering medication to the leopard which was weak and dehydrated. The leopard was being shifted to Visakhapatnam amidst tight security and medical care, officials said, adding that a decision would be taken based on the leopard’s health as to whether it would be housed at the Indira Gandhi Zoological Park or released into the wild.
Villagers relieved
Meanwhile, residents of villages along the coast heaved a sigh of relief after the big cat was captured. Farming had come to a standstill in the villages with labourers reluctant to work in the fields for fear of being attacked. Many villagers had also confined themselves to their homes.
Kept under observation
Staff Reporter in Visakhapatnam writes: According to IGZP Officials, the leopard has been safely shifted to a vacant night house on the Zoo premises for observation. The officials also added that the animal is found to be active and it has no visible injuries.
“As of now, we have been asked to house it for a period of 10 days. It has to be decided by the Chief Wildlife Warden of Andhra Pradesh over its next step. It is a young animal, may be aged around three or four years”, said Curator of IGZP Yasoda Bai.
Man-animal conflict
Rapid development in the vicinity of forests is forcing wild animals to come out of their natural habitat and enter human habitations in search of food and water, say activists, calling for more aforestation in the State.
