Indore: Future of the leopard rescued from village Nayapura looms into darkness, as till date, he has not been taken to Bhopal for the advised CT scan. The leopard was rescued with severe injuries on July 21 and advised to go for a CT scan within a week after rescue.
Sadly, it’s been 1 month and 15 days, the leopard has not been taken for CT scan.
Despite orders and repeated information about the suffering of the rescued leopard, the forest department has not taken him for a CT scan to Bhopal till date. As per last information, the leopard requires a CT scan to find the exact issues faced by him by Tuesday, i.e. August 4.
The orders for the same were given by the forest chief warden on August 3 as well. However, the rescue team has still not taken the rescued leopard to Bhopal.
The rescued leopard is struggling to recover at city zoo for a month and 15 days now. He has lost its vision completely in the right eye already.
As estimated by Dr Uttam Yadav, city zoo in-charge, the leopard probably has optic nerve damage but it cannot be determined without a CT scan. However, forest officials have not been able to take leopard to Bhopal as yet, citing the wait for more necessary permissions.
The adult leopard was injured in fighting. Noticing that the leopard is unable to spot the food given to him, city zoo officials had already diagnosed him to have lost his vision.
Suggesting CT scan that can be done in, zoo officials have reported the matter to forest department officials several times. However, no action and instructions have been issued by forest officials as yet.
However, as per Dr Kiran Bisen, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), “We have been facing some logistic problems due to which, the leopard could not be taken to Bhopal for the CT scan till date. However, the bigger question is what after the scan. It is more of a question, how will the leopard survive having little chance of reviving his eye-sight. We need to work on how and where will the leopard live if he never regains his eye-sight.”
Was it an attempt to poach?
The adult leopard was found injured and bleeding from its mouth in Nayapura village near Kampel. As per information, two leopards were seen fighting each other in Nayapura village.
As shared by Yadav, leopard is an adult male of about 7 to 8 years. “Leopards generally live for 14 to 15 years, so the leopard is in the prime of his life,” he said.
The leopard was severely injured and had lost a lot of blood. “His right eye has lost complete sight and his left eye lid is open but he is unable to see anything as yet,” Yadav said.
Another query raised by activists about the rescue is how could the leopard injure his eyes in infighting. Since that seems less plausible, it is estimated that the leopard was attacked by humans.
There is a chance that someone tried to poach the leopard, as injuries were mostly seen on mouth and eyes, estimated legal activist Abhijeet Pandey.
As per the central government's data, at least 260 cases of poaching of leopard were recorded across India during 2015-2018.
