Rescued leopard released in Kuldiha wildlife sanctuary

BALASORE: A leopard that entered human habitation under Soro forest range of the district was released in Kuldiha Wildlife Sanctuary on Sunday morning.

On Saturday, the leopard sneaked into villages from a forest nearby in search of food and was rescued by a joint team of Soro range, tiger rescue and tranquilisation unit of Similipal Tiger Reserve (STR) along with Balasore division.

Regional chief conservator of forests and field director of STR Prakash Chand Gogineni said the animal after moving through the villages was resting at a local’s house in Sarikhia village. The tiger rescue team along with tranquilisation experts rushed to the spot. The leopard was tranquilised at 10 pm on Saturday and its health condition was examined. It took the personnel nearly four hours to rescue the leopard.

It was kept under observation and released into the wild on the day. Official sources said as many as six persons including a forest personnel were injured in the attack by the leopard.

Earlier, a leopard had sneaked into human settlements in Bhanjpur under Baripada division in the Mayurbhanj district. It was rescued and released in the tiger reserve on May 17. Another leopard was spotted in Jagannathpur village under Shyamakhunta block on May 14 but went back into the forest on its own.