Forest officials finally catch leopard in Kundapur

Team Udayavani, Aug 5, 2018, 3:18 PM IST

• Tiger attacks woman in a field in Kundapur in a seperate incident

Kundapur: A leopard which was seen frequently in Kundapur during the last six months has been successfully trapped by the Forest officials, under the guidance of Forest Officer Sharath, in a three-day long operation on Saturday August 4^th.

Though many people had seen the leopard, those who hadn’t seen it, choose not to believe the claim. Eventually, a few people complained to the forest officials. Hence, Forest officials set up a trap for the big cat.

On the direction of Sharath, a goat was purchased and used as a bait within  near Nandikeshwara temple. But the leopard did not enter the cage. Hence, the bait was replaced with a dog The leopard fell for the bait and entered the cage late in the night and got trapped.

The people saw that the leopard was finally trapped in the cage, early in the morning the next day and informed the forest officials. The officials then took the beast from Malady to Kundapur. A veterinarian conducted a check-up and found the three-year-old male leopard to be healthy. The feline was later released in the forests of Mookambika Wildlife Sanctuary.

Tiger attacks woman in a field

A tiger mauled a woman from Hallimane, Alooru in Kundapur while she had gone to graze cattle on Saturday afternoon, August 4^th. The injured woman has been identified as Shantha Shetty (55) wife of Manju Shetty.

The couple had gone to their fields around 11 am to graze cattle when Manju asked Shantha to get rope from their house to fix the fence which was broken near their fields. As Shantha was returning after getting the rope, she was mauled by the tiger. Shantha suffered injuries on her hands and back and has admitted to Kundapur private hospital.

“The tiger which got scared by the screams, left Shantha and fled into the forest,” explained Manju Shetty stating that as the tiger attacked, Shantha had screamed before falling to the ground.

An inspection was conducted by Kundapur forest department under the leadership of forest official Sharath. A cage has also been kept to catch the tiger.

The attack on Shantha has confirmed the claims of the presence on a tiger in the area and locals believe the tiger must have come prowling the calves.