Bengaluru: A 15-18 months old leopard that strayed into a house in Hosadurga town in Chitradurga district on Wednesday was rescued by the Hosadurga forest officials along with the help of local police on Thursday, after an eight hour long struggle, which also attracted thousands of curious onlookers.
According to the forest officials as many as 3,000 people had gathered near a house, located behind the Veerabhadra Swamy temple in Hosadurga town on Wednesday night.
“Upon getting an alert we rushed to the spot to rescue the leopard from the house. It was very difficult to manage the crowd and the leopard was seen hiding inside the room. We had to burst crackers and get the leopard into the cage. We started the rescue operation at 10.30 pm and it went on till 5.30 am. Since, the house had three interconnected rooms, we had to carefully get the leopard from first room to the third room, where the cage was placed. Our officials gained entrance by removing the roof top sheet and set the cage. Finally, early in the morning the leopard got into the cage unharmed,” said Vasudev Deputy Range Forest Officer, Hosadurga Range.
Meanwhile, the officials said the leopard was healthy and has been shifted to Jogimatti Zoo where it will spend its remaining life. The forest department officials said the leopard could not be released back to the forest as it has started frequenting town limits and could pose a threat to the people.
