COIMBATORE: Another male leopard, aged about six or seven years, was
trapped near Kodanad Estate in Udhagamandalam on Friday night and
translocated to the Upper Bhavani range on Saturday morning. This is the
third leopard to be translocated in the last two months.
Animal
activists have expressed concern over the frequent capturing and
translocation of big cats. They termed it unhealthy as it could escalate
conflict among the animals.
The leopard that was trapped and released in the upper Bhavani ranges on Saturday morning | express
According to sources, the animal was trapped in a cage that was setup at
a village in Kodanad Estate on Saturday evening. A leopard was trapped
at the same spot the last time as well.
Assistant conservator
of forests, Gudalur division, A Pushpakaran, who led the operation said
they had set up a cage following frequent complaints from the locals. “Earlier,
the animal had killed goats. School children were also afraid to leave
their homes. Now that the animal has been trapped there is no need to
panic,” he said. “The animal was released on Saturday morning at Upper Bhavani range. It was not tranquillised,”he added.
Wildlife veterinarian NS Manokaran monitored the animal’s health. “Leopards
are territorial animals. Releasing them in another place will only
escalate conflicts among the big cats. Other big cats already occupy the
area and it will not allow other animals to enter,” said S
Jayachandran, joint secretary, Tamil Nadu Green Movement. “Chief
wildlife warden should sensitise the minister MSM Anandan about wildlife
behaviour. Increasing leopard movements indicates a healthy trend and
the officials should stop capturing and releasing the animal,” he said.
The
forest department officials usually take help from NGO members to trap
and release the animal. However, none of the NGO members were involved
in Saturday’s operation. Jayachandran said that there was no need to take the help of NGO members for translocation operations. But
as per the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) guidelines,
presence of NGO members is a must while doing a necropsy on a tiger,” he
said.
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