A leopard which was found trapped in a snare in Nalgonda district was on Tuesday rescued by a team of officials from the Nehru Zoological Park in Hyderabad.
After receiving information from Nalgonda forest officials, a rescue team of the zoo rushed to the spot at Agilapuram tanda (hamlet) and rescued the leopard safely by way of chemical immobilisation, a press release from the zoo said.
The rescued leopard is male and about five years old. It was trapped in the snare kept by farmers for trapping wild boars. The leopard has suffered injuries and has been brought to the veterinary hospital of the zoo and is under medical care.
According to a report in the Deccan Chronicle, the leopard has suffered an injury on its right rear leg. The snare was removed from its neck, leaving an impression on skin and prompting a possibility of haemorrhage under the skin. The third snare was removed from its abdomen. The animal is currently under observation and a report on its condition will be released only after 48 hours.
After the treatment, if the animal is found to be medically fit, it will be released back into the wild. If the animal doesn’t recover, it may have to spend the rest of its life inside the zoo.
“We suspect it may have come to the spot to drink water from the paddy fields in the area. The location where the leopard was found is just about one-and-a-half km from the Erragandlapalli reserve forest block,” Nalgonda divisional forest officer K Sudharshan Reddy told the Deccan Chronicle.
Over the months, there have been reports of cattle being killed at a few districts in Telangana by a predator. However, zoo officials appealed to the public to not indulge in putting up snares or any activity to harm wildlife.
