Indore (Madhya Pradesh): After five days of searching and setting up traps for rescue, forest department finally found the leopard spotted in the premises of Raja Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology (RRCAT) on Friday.
On Friday morning, forest rescue team led by divisional forest officer Mahendra Singh Solanki found the leopard in one of the two cages installed at the institute. This brought relief to the scientists working and staying around the campus at RRCAT.
The leopard was estimated to be in its prime in initial screening. It was a male leopard, possibly living on small hunts, as per Solanki.
"Leopards are nocturnal creatures, so there is always a better chance of finding the leopard at night, which is what happened," Solanki said.
A leopard strayed in the sensitive area of RRCAT, causing panic among scientists on Monday morning. After a few sighted the leopard, RRCAT officials called the forest department seeking help and rescue of the leopard from their campus.
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RRCAT is a unit of the Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India, engaged in R & D in non-nuclear front line research areas of Lasers, Particle Accelerators & related technologies. Due to the sensitive area of working, RRCAT has stringent rules on entry of personnel in the campus. However, the leopard, being sneaky by nature, found its way in.
Following the information about a leopard sighting, the forest department deployed a rescue team to search for the leopard. While there were no signs in major areas of the campus, by end of day, pug-marks and faeces confirmed the presence of leopard.
After confirmation, divisional forest officer, Solanki had issued a warning to all the scientists and instructed SOP to avoid any human-animal conflict from Monday.
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“As per the record history, RRCAT has previous sightings of leopards and there has never been a conflict,” Solanki said. The area is vast with thick bushes, trees and a friendly eco-system for leopards, he added.
“It is quite plausible that the leopard roams around, feeds on small animals and never harms humans in the area,” Solanki said. A leopard doesn’t have a big diet, so it can manage on a few small animals and survive perfectly fine, he added.
“As per historical records, the area was home to leopards so it is quite natural that leopards’ instincts bring it back here,” Solanki said. However, it doesn’t translate to any major conflict as leopards are shy by nature, he added.
Medical checks
After the rescue of leopard, it was taken to city zoo for medical checks and examination. City zoo in charge Dr Uttam Yadav investigated the health of the leopard.
