A leopard, suspected to have killed a 6-year-old girl in June, was trapped 47 km away from the spot and after 38 days of relentless pursuit by the Forest Department on Wednesday.
Susheela of Kaggaligundipodi in Hanur taluk of Chamarajanagar district was attacked by the leopard on June 26 and she was shifted to a hospital in Kamagere. But she succumbed to injuries and the department had launched an operation to trap the leopard.
Deputy Conservator of Forests of BRT Tiger Reserve Deep Contractor said the operation was prolonged owing to the leopard’s tendency to shift places. After the attack on Susheela, the leopard had attacked another person, Harshith, on July 25 at Kanthur Prabhulingeshwara Betta in Yelandur taluk.
A large cage (Tumakuru cage) was placed at a strategic point and the leopard was found in the cage near Basaveshwara temple at Kunthur Betta on Wednesday. The leopard is aged around 5 to 6 and veterinarians certified that it was healthy. As it was involved in conflict, it will not be relocated to the wild but shifted to the rescue centre, said Ms. Contractor. The Forest Department sent the photos of the trapped leopard to experts and it transpired that the rosette patterns matched with the camera-trapped images of the leopard which had attacked Susheela.
Ms. Contractor said the leopard traversed across Kaggaligundi, Gundal, Hondarabalu, Siddeshwarabetta, Kunagalli, Surapura, Shivkalli, Maddur, Mallighalli, Katnawadi, Kunturu straddling between Hanur, Kollegal and Yelandur taluks and covered more than 47 km before it was trapped.
The authorities deployed nine normal cages, two large cages, installed 70 camera traps, used two drones, including a thermal drone, for the operation which entailed the involvement of 115 Forest Department personnel. This included 40 personnel from Leopard Task Force, 30 from Yelandur wildlife division, 30 from Kollegal Wildlife Division, and 15 from Kollegal buffer zone, who constantly pursued it since June 26.
Ms. Contractor said apart from leopard capture, the local community in the villages affected by its presence, have been apprised of the development besides creating awareness on leopard behaviour and the need to eschew from moving alone after sunset. Patrolling has also been intensified in the areas, she said.
