Indore: After two days of terror, frustration and fear, the leopard rescued from Limbodi in the biggest rescue operation conducted for 26 hours, finally took a sigh of relief on Friday. The leopard seen on rage on Thursday was actually just scared and upset, as it was suffering from severe dehydration.
It could have lost its life if it was not rescued in time, said city zoo in-charge Dr Uttam Yadav. He added that the leopard is a young adult aged 5 year old.
“It's a male leopard, which has been hungry, scared and thirsty for far too long,” Yadav said. He added that the leopard is doing okay and seems well.
“We should keep him in captivity for a couple of days, at least until he is able to eat properly and be healthy enough to survive in the wild,” Yadav said.
The leopard was first spotted on Wednesday at the New Ranibagh farm house and was finally caught on Thursday.
The leopard bit and injured three people local people including a woman, child and a guard. Further, it bit and injured three rescue officials before it was finally trapped by city zoo and forest department rescue team.
Forest department planning release by today
Chief conservator of forest PS Mohanta said, “The Leopard is under observation and he is doing okay now.” He added that leopard has seen good recovery since yesterday and is peaceful now.
“The leopard is eating now, so that’s a good sign and we are considering its release quick so that it can go back home and be in its natural habitat,” Mohanta said. With advice from doctors and experts, the department was considering its release on Friday evening as well.
“We should be able to release it soon in the wild, probably by Saturday morning,” Mohanta said.
Injured forest off discharged, others recovering fast
Among the six injured by the leopard, the first three were local residents. A woman taking care of the under-construction house named Padma, her daughter and colony guard Sukhlal were bitten by the scared, furious and dehydrated leopard early in the morning on Thursday.
They were immediately taken to MY hospital. “The three of them are recovering fast, but are still in the hospital,” said Mohanta.
As the rescue operation began, rescue team driver Prakash Boghe had closely escaped the rage of leopard as he slipped in front of him and was bitten. “He is doing well and has been discharged from the hospital,” said Mohanta.
Another two rescue team officials including Rakesh Yadav were attacked by the leopard during the final rescue during injection of tranquiliser. “Both of them have also been discharged after giving them anti-rabies dosage as a precautionary measure,” said Mohanta.
