A one-year-old leopard cub was trapped in a cage placed by the Forest department at Kadalur village near Maddur in Mandya district on Thursday night.

The villagers had lodged a complaint with the Forest department after a leopard strayed into the village a
week ago killing three sheep. Acting on the complaint, the department personnel placed a cage in a sugarcane field four days ago and tied a dog as a bait.

As it did not yield any result, they tied a lamb as a bait on Thursday evening. This proved successful in trapping the wild cat.

Hundreds of people gathered to get a glimpse of the leopard. While a few were trying to take a selfie with the leopard, some were seen videographing the wild cat.

Residents staged a snap stir as the Forest department personnel failed to reach the spot even after hours of informing them. They stated that there were two or more leopards on the prowl and urged the department to take measures to trap them.

The villagers later withdrew the protest after Range Forest Officer Shashidhar pacified them and promised to set a trap for other leopards. The trapped leopard cub is healthy and will be released in either Nagarahole or Bandipur forest, he said.