Kaziranga (Assam): In an exemplary management of a potential human-animal conflict, a leopard trapped in a narrow culvert in the northeast Indian state of Assam was successfully rescued through collaborative efforts of authorities and local people. It was released in Nambor Wildlife Sanctuary, located near the site of rescue, yesterday.

The leopard was sighted by workers at the Halmira Tea Estate in Golaghat, about 60 km from Kaziranga National Park, Wednesday evening. When the people made attempts to chase it away, the animal entered the culvert for shelter, entrapping itself.

The following morning, the Forest Department, alerted by local people, along with International Fund for Animal Welfare – Wildlife Trust of India (IFAW-WTI) veterinarians visited the site to rescue the leopard.

The local people had bamboo-fenced one end of the culvert and set up a cage at the other to capture it. However, the animal was unable to move, and hence had to be tranquilised for a safe rescue.

“As is usual in these cases, crowd control was a problem, but the Police personnel did a great job of managing the mob. But, there were, among this crowd, people who helped set up a platform to facilitate tranquilisation, for which we are thankful. Also, on behalf of the Forest Department especially Golaghat division, I thank the IFAW-WTI team for rescuing the leopard,” said Sayed Feroz Rahman, Assistant Conservator of Forests, Golaghat Division.

The leopard was tranquilised by Dr Abhijit Bhawal, IFAW-WTI veterinarian and removed from the culvert. It was kept in a cage and transported to the nearby forests, in a truck lent by the tea garden authorities.

“It was a female leopard, about 6-7 years old. It was weak and dehydrated but otherwise healthy. We planned to release it on the same day but the animal seemed a bit disorientated due to the sedation, so we decided to post-pone the release for yesterday,” said Dr Bhawal.

It was kept for a night at the IFAW-WTI run Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC), closely monitored by the veterinarian and animal keepers, and was successfully released yesterday near the site of rescue.

“This is a classic case of how these kinds of situations can be easily handled if the crowd is effectively controlled. Throughout India, generally human-carnivore confrontations get aggravated when people ignore the authorities’ requests to keep away and do as they please. So many people as well as animals get unnecessarily injured this way. Most cases need no intervention, apart from providing a free unhindered passage for the animal,” said Dr NVK Ashraf, Chief Veterinarian, WTI.