Based on trail of pug marks & camera traps ‘Leopard’ caged by wildlife wing

Himachal Pradesh Wildlife Authority and team of Dehradun Wildlife Institute last night succeeded to cage a leopard which may be the one, wanted, for killing of kids from deodar forest at Downdale in the outskirt of capital town.

Biologist of Wildlife Rescue Centre Tutikandi of Shimla Akshay Bajaj said that a team from Dehradun Wildlife Institute was working day and night (0600 hrs to 1930hrs) , dawn to dusk to trace the wild animal.

The Leopard wanted since Nov 4, was being traced along with others leopards in the camera traps of the jungle but it was not getting trapped in the cage.  Bajaj said that they had changed the strategic position of trap cage recently on basis of pug marks and camera traps and it was caught in the cage at 1900 hrs on Thursday.

The Leopard was tranquilized by the wild life official and shifted to Wildlife rehabilitation and rescue Centre Tutikandi last night.

He said that now SCAT  analysis (simple and non-invasive method to determine a species diet) is being done to identify whether it has preyed the kid or not.  The Wildlife Authority would keep the caged leopard in captivity till it would be ascertained that it is not a man-eater, he said.

Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forest and Wildlife Authority Anil Kumar Thakur  confirmed that the caged animal was female Leopard and it was seen roaming near the spot along with two cubs since it preyed the 4yrs boy Yograj son of Kedarnath of Downdale outskirt of Shimla on Nov 4, 2021 on Deepawali night.

Thakur said that a scientific SCAT analysis would ascertain the identity of the man-eater which was declared wanted by Wildlife Authority soon after State Human Right Commission passed order on Nov 10 to kill the leopard which preyed upon the two kids in interval of three months.

It is worthwhile to mention here  that state Wildlife Authority had to burn midnight burner to trace the the leopard.