Mysuru: A leopard which was appearing in the surroundings of Kupya village in T. Narasipur taluk since months has been finally trapped in a cage kept by the Forest Department at the village.

The two-year-old leopard had attacked cattle in Kupya and surrounding villages which had created fear among the villagers.

Following complaints, the Forest Department had placed a cage with a dog as a bait in the field of one Ramesh at Kupya village about four days back and the leopard which came in search of food entered the cage and was trapped on Friday night.

The villagers, who saw the leopard trapped in the cage informed the Forest Department personnel, who rushed to the spot along with RFO T. Sunitha, DRFO S.M. Manjunath, Forest Watcher Chandrappa and others transported the leopard to Bandipur Reserve Forest, where it was let off into its habitat.

This is the first leopard which has been caught in T. Narasipur zone.

Though the villagers had lodged complaints about sighting of leopard in the surroundings, no leopard was trapped in the T. Narasipur Forest  Zone until now.