The Haryana wildlife department rescued the leopard and shifted it to Pipli Zoo in Kurukshetra. (Representational)

A five-year-old leopard, which was rescued from an empty water tank on Thursday, died at Kurukshetra’s Pipli Zoo on Saturday. The leopard, which had a missing paw, was rescued from a 15-foot deep water empty tank near Tikri village in the Morni Hills in Panchkula on Thursday.

The medical report of the leopard’s injuries revealed that it was a case of poaching and it had got entangled in a paw trap, due to which the feline had lost its right paw around five days ago before being spotted in the water tank.

The Haryana Wildlife Department has ordered an  FIR under relevant sections of the Wildlife Protection Act 1972 with the Panchkula police.

“The rescued leopard died at Pipli Zoo. We concluded that it had lost its right paw in a trap. I have ordered the field staff to comb the entire area for the trap,” said Alok Verma, Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (wildlife), Haryana.

He added that the leopard was severely dehydrated and starving when it was rescued. “It drank at least five litres of water in once instance when it was brought out of the empty water tank. The exact cause of death will be clear only after the postmortem examination,” he said.

Sources said senior wildlife department officials were also reviewing the rescue operation in which the three dart shots fired to make the big cat unconscious did not work.

The first two attempts were made by veterinarian Dr Anil Kumar and his subordinate. The third attempt was made by local police ASI Maan Singh but the pressure of the drug was low. The fourth dart was also fired by ASI Maan Singh and it worked.