Four days on, leopard continues to be elusive in Hubballi

Forest Department officials continued with their efforts to capture a leopard in and around Nrupatunga Betta and Raj Nagar on Sunday which has eluded them for four days.

A 13-member team of forest department staff, fire and emergency service and police personnel intensified their search, in the backyard of Raj Nagar Kendriya Vidyalaya, where the big cat was last sighted on Saturday night. The leopard was first sighted on Wednesday night by a walker near Nrupatunga Betta.

Confirmation of the presence of the leopard in one of the thickly populated locations of Hubballi has set fear among the residents, who staged an extempore protest demanding the forest department capture the leopard at the earliest.

Deputy Commissioner of Police R Basargi and Hubballi urban Tahsildar Shashidhar Madiyal, who visited the spot, held talks with forest department officials to discuss the plan of action to capture the leopard.

Speaking to DH, Deputy Conservator of Forest Yashpal Kshirsagar said plans are being chalked out to capture the leopard as per the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Forestry. “Our top priority is to push the leopard into a cage rather than tranquillising, which involves more risk both to humans and the animal,” he said and added that three cages with stray dogs as bait have been placed at the strategic locations.

He also said that feeds from CCTV cameras are also being analysed to monitor its movement.

“Patience is the key to capture the leopard and we are creating a no-human zone near the school so that the big cat makes a move and falls into our trap,” he said and added that veterinary doctors and dart tranquillising experts are also part of the search team and their service will be used if necessary.

He also clarified that the team consists of forest guards who have earlier worked in Bandipur, Nagarahole and have experience in handling such situations.

Speaking to media persons, Hubballi Range Forest Officer Sridhar Tegginamani said thick vegetation behind the school is making the search operations a bit difficult. The leopard has sufficient prey base in this area, including hare, pigs, stray dogs and others, so the chance of a human attack is minimal unless humans venture near it.

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