Leopard hunt continues, team seeks more equipment

The hide-and-seek between the leopard and forest employees is still on. The big cat was first spotted in a pear orchard at Kadian village on November 11, and the forest department has not been able to trap it to date.

Now the experts involved in this operation have sought more tranquilizer guns and even night-vision cameras. At present, only one tranquilizer gun is with the department. That too is with a single-injection tube and, therefore, it cannot be used twice.

District forest officer Daljit Singh Brar said they had placed the demand for more guns with the head office and even more cages were being made.

The leopard, however, was spotted two-three times at night near the forest office in Kadyan forest belt. But the team was not able to trap it.

Dr Sandeep Jain, a member of Punjab Wildlife Board, said, "The operation was not well managed when the big cat was first spotted on November 11 and was found in a borewell. There was no expert at that time and even the tranquilizer gun and medicines also came at the spot after the big cat had already run away. They should have followed the wait-and-watch policy at that time only."

"Why the tranquilizer gun was not used at that time when the leopard was spotted in the borewell on November 11?" he asked.

The panicky employees had thrown a net on the top of the well to trap the animal. But it got scared and ran away after tearing the net. After that, the villagers and forest employees have been finding pug marks of the animal here and there.

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