Rajahmundry: An adult leopard from the nearby Papikonda national park strayed into paddy fields and attacked three men, causing them minor injuries at Ankampalem village of Athreyapuram mandal in East Godavari on Monday.
Forest authorities say that the leopard from nea-rby Gokavaram or Mared-umilli forest areas which are a part of the Papikon-da national park, strayed into the village after losing its way in the process of searching for prey.
A farmer, Nerla Suriba-bu, was fertilising his pa-ddy field when he noticed it. He raised an alarm and climbed up a tree to avoid getting attacked by it. As he started screaming alo-ud from the top of the tree about sighting the leopa-rd, other farmers too mo-ved away from their fields. As the news about the presence of the leopard spread in the village, a large number of villagers started arriving there. As they started to move close to it, they provoked it and the leopard attacked three persons. Two suffered scratches while another suffered an injury on his foot. As more people started arriving at the field, the scared leopard climbed up a coconut tree and perch-ed on it.
Local police faced a tough time to regulate the crowd. Meanwhile, forest authorities mobilised a veterinary doctor and a rescue van with attached cage from Gokavaram to Ankampalem to rescue the carnivore.
A team of personnel including a veterinary doctor armed with a tranquiliser from the Indira Gandhi Zoological Park from Visakhapatnam was requisitioned to reach An-kampalem to tranquilise the animal and release it into the forests after its recovery.
Kakinada district forest officer (territorial) Dr Nandani Salaria said, “A leopard strayed into Ank-ampalem village from the nearby forest area in sea-rch of prey and perched on a coconut tree when a large number of villagers arrived there to see it. We are mobilizing all requisite equipment and a veterinary doctor to tranqui-lise and trap it, and relea-se it into the forest. If people move away, the leopard will come down from the tree and go away on its own.”
