Leopard rescued from rubber plantation

Saved: Forest personnel shifting a leopard rescued from a plantation near Konni into an iron cage on Sunday.

Forest officials rescued a female leopard trapped inside a rubber plantation at Avolikkuzhi, near Athumbumkulam, in Konni on Sunday.

A plantation worker first found the big cat in a wire trap kept for wild pigs in the private plantation.

The local people said the trap was set to protect their crops from the pigs. They alerted the forest office at Kummannoor, near Konni, and a team reached the spot.

C. Gopakumar, veterinary surgeon, tranquillised the leopard and led it into an iron cage.

The animal was given first aid and let into the Mannarappara forests in the afternoon.

Dr. Gopakumar said the leopard was around eight years old.

A large number of people thronged Avolikkuzhy to have a glimpse of the big cat.