The two-hour long rescue operation was undertaken by the forest department as well as members of Wildlife Conservation and Animal Welfare Association
A male leopard stuck in a snare was rescued from a village in Dahanu on Wednesday afternoon. The two-hour long rescue operation was undertaken by the forest department as well as members of Wildlife Conservation and Animal Welfare Association (WCAWA).
The Dahanu forest department received a call from Michelle Chawla, who runs Tamrind Tree, a school for local tribal children, around 10:30pm about a wild animal that was sitting close to a tree near their farm in Sogave village, around 6k from the city.
Dhaval Kansara, founder of WCAWA, said they reached the spot with the forest department but were surprised that the leopard was not moving around. “We realised that the leopard was stuck in a wire snare that was attached to the tree. Even as the leopard rescue team from Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) was on its way, we did not want to waste time as we were worried that the leopard might injure itself in a bid to escape, A mob was beginning to gather too,” he said.
A plan was drawn on the spot and they decided to take a trap cage in a vehicle close to the leopard and seeing the cage, the leopard seemed more than eager in getting inside the cage. “The wire snare was long and the leopard almost entered the cage and we snapped the wire and quickly shut the gates ensuring the leopard was successfully trapped,” said Kansara.
According to Shailesh Deore, who heads the SGNP’s leopard rescue team, the leopard was already rescued by the time they reached. “This was certainly one of the most massive leopards i have come across. It was a healthy male and its age is estimated to be around seven years.”
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