Leopard rescued, released in forest

 The residents of Anjaru had a rare guest on Saturday morning.

A leopard was caught in a trap (noose) laid to trap wild boars, in a field, at Anjaru in Hiriyadka near Udupi. The villagers noticed the leopard struggling to escape from the noose around 8.30 am.

As soon as the news of the leopard spread, the villagers informed the forest department officials, who in turn informed the officials in Pilikula.

Soon the experts from Pilikula along with forest department officials rushed to the spot and rescued the leopard after injecting tranquiliser. Later, the big cat was let inside Someshwara forest.

Udupi range forest conservaror Prakash Poojary said that the leopard must have been trapped on Friday night itself. “As the leopard was found to be healthy and without any injuries on its body, we let it in the reserve forest,” he informed.

To a query, he said that it would be difficult to tell or guess from where the leopard has come. “It must have arrived at the village either from Perdur or Vanavadi forest,” he added.