Leopard trapped, vigil continues

A seven-year-old male leopard that had spread scare in and around Kallai was finally trapped in the early hours of Friday much to the relief of the local people and Forest Department personnel who had been searching for it.Divisional Forest Officer C.V. Rajan said the leopard was later taken to Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary and freed in Marathaga in the Muthanga Forest Range. The DFO said though a leopard had been caught and released in forests far away, the vigil against leopard would continue for a couple of days more. The trap would continue to be kept in the area since the local people feared the mate of the trapped leopard might be around. The leopard got trapped in an iron cage in which a goat was kept as a bait. A group of local people who had set up the trap had been keeping vigil in the area. And they had rushed to the place where the trap was kept on hearing a sound and found the animal trapped inside. The DFO said the animal did not show the restlessness that wild animals trapped in a cage usually displayed when surrounded by people. Going by its behaviour, it appeared that the leopard had been living in the neighbourhood and used to seeing people moving around, he said. Local people began suspecting a leopard was on the prowl in their area after a number of dogs and cats disappeared. A few others also claimed to have seen footprints of the animal.

The Hindu, 1^st November 2008