A four-year-old female leopard was ensnared in a trap, apparently set by poachers, on a private tea estate at Arepetta, near Meppadi, on Tuesday morning.
A team of officials led by South Wayanad Forest Divisional Officer P. Ranjith reached the spot to rescue the animal after estate workers informed them about the incident.
Villagers said poachers normally set up snares in buffer zones and plantation areas to trap animals such as hare and wild boar. The incident has created a sense of fear among the people in the locality as this is the first instance of a big cat being ensnared.
The abdomen portion of the leopard was caught in the snare. Tea plantations are a preferred area for poachers to set traps due to their proximity to the forests.
Rescued
A team of veterinarians led by forest surgeon Arun Zachariah tranquillised the big cat and took it to a wildlife rescue centre of the Forest Department at Lakkidi in the district . “The animal is healthy and no injury was found on it,” Forest Department sources said.
Under observation
The animal would be released into the wild after two days of observation. The department has registered a case in connection with the setting of snare to trap wild animals in plantations, sources said. It is believed that the animal reached the estate from Nallur Nadu, a forest area nearly 3 km away under the Meppadi forest under the South Wayanad forest division.
