Leopard rescued from culvert in UP, released

Agra, April 21 (SocialNews.XYZ) Amid the lockdown, the Uttar Pradesh Forest Department and Wildlife SOS have rescued a leopard from a culvert in the holy town of Mathura after a 10-hour operation.

Wildlife officials on Tuesday said that the beast was later released in the Shivalik forest range in Saharanpur.

On Monday, Mathura residents spotted the leopard roaming around in an upscale locality, leading to a scare in the entire vicinity. Later, the big cat took shelter in a culvert pipe. This was immediately reported to the Forest Department and the Agra based NGO Wildlife SOS.

Equipped with safety nets, a trap cage and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), an eight-member team from Wildlife SOS headed to the location accompanied by forest officers.

Operations like this can be quite nerve-racking as the team has to exercise extreme caution while approaching such a large and powerful feline. They decided to use food as bait to lure it into a cage.

Dr Yaduraj Khadpekar, Assistant Director - Veterinary and Research, Wildlife SOS, said,"We set up safety nets around the area and placed two trap cages on both ends of the culvert. Rescue operations involving leopards can be dangerous and need careful planning in order to ensure the safety of the animal as well as of the people. After a nearly ten hour wait, the leopard finally entered one of the cages."

Kartick Satyanarayan, co-founder & CEO Wildlife SOS said, "The depletion of the leopards natural prey base and habitat due to encroachment and deforestation is forcing them to seek out easily available prey such as poultry and livestock in human settlements. This often leads to human-leopard conflicts which have violent and brutal consequences."

Source: IANS