Forest, not permanent cage, best place for leopard: PeTA

Bengaluru: The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), an animal rights group, has shot off a letter to state Forest Minister Ramanath Rai, reminding him that under the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972, a captured wild animal cannot be kept in captivity if it can be rehabilitated.

The letter by PeTA CEO Poorva Joshipura refers to the leopard that escaped from the Bannerghatta Biological Park, where it was kept after being captured at a school in Varthur.

Ms Joshipura said that Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) Dr Ravi Ralph had informed the group that the forest department was planning to keep the leopard permanently at the zoo. However, Dr Ralph had also admitted that the leopard need not live in captivity and that though it has escaped, it should not be a cause for worry as it can survive in nature.

The PeTA letter pointed out that Dr Ralph gave the impression that the big cat could be caged permanently as he had said that it has a problem in one eye, and is missing a tooth. “But the condition is not severe enough to warrant permanent capture and prevent the leopard from surviving in nature. The leopard’s physical and mental well-being would be much higher in its natural habitat than in captivity,” it said.

The leopard acted in what it perceived to be self-defence and strayed into a school because it was lost. There is no reason to believe that it would pose a greater threat to the people if it is rehabilitated back into the forest than any other leopard, the group said.

“We understand that efforts are being made to recapture the leopard. We request you to send instructions to relevant officials to stop such efforts to recapture him and if it is unavoidable, relocate him immediately upon capture so as to allow him live freely in his natural habitat,” Ms Joshipura stated in the letter addressed to the minister.