Berhampur: A team of forest personnel Thursday rescued a leopard, which got stuck in a trap allegedly fixed by unidentified persons to catch wild boar in Odisha’s Ganjam district.
The leopard was trapped in Kundakhai forest in Buguda forest range, about 70-km from here.
The four-year-old leopard attacked a 30-year old man, who rushed to see the animal during the rescue operation. The youth identified as D K Das has sustained injuries and is admitted at the Government Hospital in Buguda. His condition was stated to be out of danger, police said.
After being rescued safely, the big cat was released in the Kiriamba dense forest, said Divisional Forest Officer (Ghumusar South) Satya Narayan Behura.
Veterinary doctors treated the rescued leopard before it was released in the dense forest, he said.
The forest personnel took around four-hours to rescue the big cat by using the net and shifting it to the forest office and subsequently to the Kiriamba jungle through a wooden cage.
Generally, local poachers and farmers put traps to hunt wild boars for their meat and saving crops from marauding wild animals. Several acres of the standing crops have allegedly been destroyed by the wild boars in the area, as their population has increased many folds, farmers alleged.
As the news about the trapped leopard spread in the area, a big crowd gathered in the site to witness the rescue of the big cat. Presence of the crowd made the rescue operation complicated, said a forest officer.
The jungle areas under Buguda forest range are very dense and have a number of wild animals, including leopards, elephants, blackbucks, wild boars and other, forest officials said.
PTI
