The Telangana Forest Department said Thursday they have captured a leopard from the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) campus in Hyderabad, where it was on the prowl for nearly a week.
According to officials, the male leopard — around 6 years of age — was shifted to Nehru Zoological Park for observation and treatment. One more leopard is suspected to be still roaming the campus.
C Sridhar Rao, District Forest Officer, Sangareddy, said they received a petition from ICRISAT about a leopard on the prowl inside the campus for about a week, and the department arranged 30 to 40 surveillance cameras to confirm its presence.
“Day before yesterday, we confirmed the presence of a leopard, and it is suspected that one more is present. We have found traces of the second one, but could not confirm it. We arranged two trap cages, and last night, one leopard was captured. We are now arranging more trap cameras to confirm the presence of a second one. The captured animal has been handed over to the zoo park and will be released in its natural habitat soon,” he told indianexpress.com.
Rao said that when captured, an animal suffers from stress and dehydration, it is then treated at the zoo veterinary clinic, and released on orders of the Chief Wildlife Warden.
Stating that a leopard was last captured at the ICRISAT campus four years ago, Rao said that a panther does not live only in forests. “Any rocky terrain and wherever human movement is less, a leopard can be found. It is a versatile animal that adapts to all climatic zones,” he said.
“We have arranged 30 trap cameras now, and will keep monitoring until the presence of another animal is confirmed or ruled out,” he added.
© IE Online Media Services Pvt Ltd
