Rescued leopard, possibly attacked by people, dies after 15 day battle for life

Hyderabad: The Nehru Zoological Park on Monday lost a 15-day battle to save an injured young male leopard, rescued from Mahbubnagar district on June 10 and brought to the zoo for treatment, with the big cat breathing its last in the morning.

Zoo officials told Deccan Chronicle that the leopard, aged between three and four years, could not recover from the blows it received that nearly broke its back and made much of its body immobile.

The post-mortem examination, according to Dr M.A. Hakeem, zoo deputy director and head veterinarian, indicated that the leopard was beaten on its back. Though the spine itself was not broken, some of its vertebrae showed injury stresses and its spinal cord was damaged. “This resulted in the leopard unable to move its hind portion completely. It was not even able to raise its front legs fully," he told Deccan Chronicle.

For the first few days, the leopard ate well, consuming up to 3 kgs of meat at one go. But, as the days went by, it began to grow weaker despite the veterinary team's best efforts and it breathed its last on Monday morning.

“We consulted Dr K. Jagan Mohan Reddy from the P.V. Narasimha Rao Telangana Veterinary University on possible treatment protocol. I also consulted Dr Murugan from the Dusit Zoo in Thailand on how we could save the leopard. But all our efforts, including giving it the Renerve injection, a B Complex drug, failed to save it," Dr Hakeem said.

As the zoo vets struggled to save the animal, they got it X-rayed which did not show the injuries on its spine that were found during the post-mortem.

"We suspect that the animal entered a pen with cattle and was possibly set upon by the people who managed to land some strong blows on its back with sticks. It is quite possible that the leopard, once it became immobile, was dragged out into the open and then the forest department was informed by the locals saying that the big cat was hurt by cattle which fought back when attacked," zoo curator V.V.L. Subhadra Devi said.