HYDERABAD: A leopard was spotted in a manufacturing unit of Hetero Drugs Ltd in Gaddapotharam industrial area at Kazipally, Sangareddy district in the early hours of Saturday. This was caught and safely moved to Nehru zoological park by forest officials.
Incidentally, in April a leopard had entered the Hetero Labs premises and was subsequently rescued.
The leopard strayed into the premises through a rainwater outlet and entered the ‘H’ block of the manufacturing unit through an open entrance door. It was found moving the machinery and equipment area, which has not been in use for a long time.
Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, Siddipet district forest officer C. Sridhar Rao said “The leopard was spotted by a janitor around 4 am on Saturday as soon as we received the information, we rushed to the spot and reviewed the situation and requested for a special rescue team from the Hyderabad zoo”.
A team headed by deputy director, veterinary, Dr. Naveen and deputy director veterinary, NZP, Hyderabad, Dr. Hakeem carried out the five-hour rescue operation.
Dr. Hakeem said that the healthy and active leopard was a male aged around 5-6 years.
“We first tried to catch the leopard in a cage but it was unable to get inside. We had to use a tranquilizer dart and sedate it. It has been brought to the zoo, where it is under 48-hour observation. We will release the animal in the wild as per PCCF directions”, he added.
Nehru Zoological park authorities opined that the leopard must have strayed from the nearby forest area in search of a female mate or for food and got trapped inside the lab as the floor was slippery.
According to Nagabhushan, employed in the dispatch section, “The leopard must have spent the night in the unit before we spotted it. As soon as the janitor saw it, he closed the door of the ground floor and informed the authorities, who called police and forest officials.”
