Hyderabad: A leopard, which was caught in a snare set up by the villagers for wild boars, was rescued by the forest department officials in Ranga Reddy district.
The injured leopard was tranquilised and shifted to Nehru Zoological Park for medical treatment. The animal had received abdomen injuries.
Mahbubnagar divisional forest officer S. Narendar Reddy said, “A male leopard, aged about five-six years, was trapped in an area along the Ranga Reddy-Mahbubnagar border.
Though the revenue district falls under Chakalapally village in Kulkacharla mandal, the forest area is in Hanvada mandal of Mahbubnagar range.
Local people had set up a snare for wild boars. We will book a case against people responsible.”
The area is situated near the Gangaram Reserve Forest block, from which the wild animal had strayed into the agriculture fields near the village.
“The reserve forest is a good habitat of leopards. As per reports, 15 days ago, a cattle was killed by the leopard. We are ready to compensate for the cattle,” said Narendar Reddy.
Mahbubnagar forest range officer V. Mahendar said, “At around 8 am, we received a call from Chakalapally residents. They reported of a leopard caught in a snare made of motor vehicle clutch wire. A mob of at least 2,000 people had gathered there. We took police help to manage the crowd.”
A. Shankaran, the outgoing curator of Nehru Zoological Park, said, “After we received the information, we sent an eight-member team to the spot with a rescue vehicle. Veterinary doctor M.A. Hakeem and his team tranquilised the animal. After tranqulising the leopard, the team had to cut the snare wires and shift the animal into the cage of the rescue van. Later, a revival injection was given to it. There are no major external injuries, but there were internal injuries. Doctors are checking for internal hemorrhages.”
