Hyderabad: Forest officials captured a leopard that lost its way to the Shamshabad airport nearly a week ago, after the big cat put up a fierce fight.
“The leopard is a three-year-old male and is very healthy. It tore the metal sheet of the cage to escape, resulting in blood marks on its face,” said an official of the forest department.
The officials tied a goat in the cage to trap the leopard.
“Hearing the sound of the goat, it came near the cage and got trapped. As the portion of the cage where the goat was tied was barricaded by a plastic sheet, the goat has not been injured,” said an official from the Telangana forest department.
“The animal was caught at around 7.59 pm on Thursday. Presently, it has been shifted to Nehru Zoological Park.
After conducting necessary medical examinations in the zoo, the leopard will be released into the Amrabad tiger reserve.
The leopard was first sighted at the airside portion of Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) in the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday between 12 midnight to 3 am. On Sunday, only one cage and three trap cameras were set up, which were gradually increased to five cages and 25 cameras.
There is a small water body near the cargo side of the airport, which the forest officials suspect might have attracted the leopard.
