A three-year-old male leopard was rescued after it got stuck inside a chicken coop near Otur village in Junnar district, Pune, on Tuesday.

Alok Kumbhad, an Otur resident, said the wild cat was trying to prey on chickens inside the coop placed in the backyard of one of the houses near a sugarcane field.

“Around 7am, we found the leopard inside the coop. The animal could neither escape nor feed on the chicken as the coop was too small,” said Kumbhad.

The owner of the sugarcane field informed the forest department, who alerted the Wildlife SOS team at Manikdoh Leopard Rescue Centre (MLRC) in Junnar. A five member rescue team and 12 forest officials reached the site around 7.30am.

“We installed nets across the periphery of the house to prevent the animal from escaping. The leopard was sedated using a dart gun and the operation ended by 9.30am,” said Dr Ajay Deshmukh, senior veterinarian, MLRC.

Since the animal was stressed, he was rushed to MLRC, where a medical examination was conducted. “The leopard is healthy right now, but we want him to recuperate from the trauma. He will be released into the wild soon,” said Deshmukh.

Experts said the incident was a direct result of rapid human encroachment in scrub forests where settlements are made in buffer areas.

“Otur is prone to leopard sightings. They often wander into human settlements in search of easily prey such as poultry and livestock. Tolerance towards felines and coexistence is the key to avoid man-animal conflict,” said Kartick Satyanarayan, co-founder and CEO, Wildlife SOS.

On Friday, a female leopard was rescued from a village near Pune.

First Published: Dec 19, 2018 23:59 IST