Dharwad: Residents of Hubballi and Dharwad breathed a sigh of relief after a leopard that had been lurking in sugar cane fields for the last six days was finally trapped in a cage set up by the forest deparmen officials here on Sunday.
The leopard is a male one, aged about 4-5 years, and will be released if found healthy, post-check-up, depending upon the instructions of higher officers.
On September 15, the leopard was first spotted at Nrupatunga Betta in Hubballi and later at Kendriya Vidyalaya No.1 at Rajnagar on September 18 and at Shiradi Nagar in Hubballi on September 20. In view of the leopard sightings, the district administration had suspended offline classes for 12 schools in areas surrounding Nrupatunga Betta till forest department officials trap the leopard.
The leopard had not harmed any humans, but it had hunted a couple of stray dogs and pigs in Hubballi.
Apart from the local forest staff, experts from Kali Tiger Reserve, Dandeli and three experts from Binkadakatti zoo in Gadag were involved in the combing operations and drone cameras were utilised to identify the big cat.
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Meat was placed in the cage to lure the leopard to walk into the trap and around 10 officers, including a tranquilizing team, stood guard. It is gathered that the leopard walked right into the cage and was trapped
Earlier, leopard scat samples collected in the area were sent to Hyderabad for DNA analysis to identify whether there are two leopards or a single leopard on the prowl.
