Hunters suspected to have cast the net to poach wild boar; big cat struggles foar eight hours till Forest Officials visit the spot

Mysore/Mysuru: A leopard caught in a net, suspected to have been laid to trap wild boar at Alanahalli in Hampapura hobli, H.D. Kote taluk, was rescued by Forest Department personnel yesterday.

The three-year-old male leopard was struggling for life for eight hours, after it was caught in the net laid by poachers, at a vacant land covered by bushes frequented by the villagers as a short cut to avoid the road. As it was raining on Thursday night (May 11) and the villagers had restricted themselves to home, the poachers had planned to take advantage and hence cast the net to trap wild boar.

The leopard, which walked into the trap, tried to wriggle out but the trap got tightened in the process making it more difficult for the big cat to come out on its own. Meanwhile, the poachers are learnt to have visited the spot, only to flee in fear after seeing the leopard in the net.

The villagers who went for cattle grazing at about 10 am, heard the cries of the leopard and followed the sound to see the animal still struggling to come out of the net. They informed Forest Department who came to the spot along with tranquillising experts at around 2 pm. The leopard was tranquillised and shifted to the cage after pulling out the animal from the net.

First aid was administered to the leopard before transporting the cage in a goods autorickshaw. However as the road was humpy bumpy and the auto was driven speedily, the leopard suffered minor injuries, it is learnt.

Irked over the attitude of Forest personnel, who acted in haste to shift the leopard, which added to  the pain of already indisposed animal, by hitting against the rods in the cage, in transit, the villagers expressed their disappointment.

Wildlife Warden Kruthika Alanahalli said, “The leopard was rescued in a swift operation soon after receiving the information from villagers. The villagers should inform Forest Department about the bids to poach wild animals. The secrecy will be maintained about informers. If the poaching is not stopped now, the wild animals will go extinct for the next generation. Hence everybody should cooperate with Forest Department in this regard.”

DCF Basavaraju and other Forest Officers were present.