Marauding leopard trapped, released

The leopard, which has over the past few months raided pens in the villages and carried away sheep, goats and even dogs, was trapped in a cage set up by the Forest Department staff.

The predator had killed two cows, 20 calves, 15 sheep and goats.

Acting on a complaint from the village residents, the Rest Department staff had set up a cage in the farm of Puttaswame Gowda a month ago. A dog had been tied inside the cage as prey to lure the big cat.

On Sunday night, the leopard approached the cage, killed the dog from outside, and entered the trap to eat the carcass.

When the Forest staff were carrying the cage to release the leopard in the forest, the animal managed to gore the arm of Prakash, a farmer. The animal was let off at Balegarana
Gadde in the Rajiv Gandhi National Park.

Assistant Conservator of Forest Chandrashekhar and Forest staff Shekharayya, Ashok Kumar, Pradeep, Appaji, Suresh, Shivaraju and Chikkanna participated in the operation to capture the cat.