Mysuru: Leopard cub dies during rescue operation

MYSURU: A one-year-old leopard died on the outskirts of the city when the forest department officials launched a rescue operation on Wednesday.

The ironical part is that the villagers carried the dead leopard on their shoulders and clicked photographs with it.

According to villagers, the male leopard which had strayed into the village, died after foresters tried to rescue it using a net. The leopard had entered Jattihundi village which is on Bogadi Road, some 10km from Mysuru city.

Villagers claim that the leopard was hiding inside the roadside drain when they noticed it and blocked both ends of the drain to prevent it from escaping. The villagers accused the forest officers of launching the rescue operation four hours late despite being informed on time.

“The foresters who came late tried to catch the animal with net. But when they could not catch it, they returned back by stating the they will bring veterinarian to tranquilize the animal. But after few minutes they returned without any veterinarian and tried to scare the animal out of the drain. The animal did not move or made any sound. By the time it was removed from the drain, it had died,” the villagers claimed.

Some of the villagers lifted the leopard carcass on their shoulders and took photographs. The leopard was shifted from one shoulder to another.

Later the forest department took the carcass into their possession. A postmortem was conducted to know the cause of the death.

Meanwhile, when TOI contacted a senior wildlife officer, he said that they will probe the cause of the death and take action against the villagers who carried the animal on their shoulders and took photographs.