Official jumps into bushes with net in hand to pin down, rescue injured leopard

Raipur: With drone assistance failing and rescue team hours away to capture and rescue an injured leopard that strayed close to Kokodi village in the Torenga buffer of Chhattisgarh's Udanti-Sitanadi Tiger Reserve, a forest official took it upon himself and jumped into the bushes with a rope net in hand and threw it to pin down the animal on Thursday.The animal was injured carrying a wire snare embedded in its neck for the past seven days and the officer feared with darkness descending it would be difficult to spot its movement and decided to act hoping that the injured leopard may attack villagers.Foresters said the animal is now stable, and authorities have launched a crackdown on poachers.Forest officials received information that an injured leopard was seen inside the dense bushes, close to a few houses in the village. Assistant conservator and nodal officer of the anti-poaching team, SDO Gopal Kashyap, summoned a drone and the anti-poaching unit. Drone footage revealed a deep wound on the leopard's neck, raising fears that the animal might attack villagers or children while seeking easy prey.Because the leopard was crouched inside dense bushes, the drone could not be used effectively. With the Jungle Safari rescue team still hours away at their base 170 km away, Kashyap decided to act before dark. He went in alone with a rope net, threw it over the leopard and pinned it down, even as the big cat attacked him.Local villagers and forest staff helped secure the animal in a cage mounted on the Gajraj rescue vehicle and shifted it to the Taurenga rest house, away from the habitation.At about 8 pm, Jungle Safari veterinarian Dr Jai Kishore Jharia, assistant Ramakant and their team reached Taurenga. They tranquilised the leopard, removed two clutch wire snares that had been embedded around its neck for nearly seven days and started treatment. The leopard, which typically weighs between 50 and 55 kg, was found to weigh only 45 kg, indicating it had lost around 10–15 kg. Officials said the animal had already killed a dog in Kokodi village and, due to pain and difficulty breathing, was seeking easy prey in the populated area when it was intercepted.The leopard was transported safely to the Jungle Safari hospital, where its condition is reported to be stable. It will be released back into the Udanti forests once fully recovered. Forest authorities have registered a wildlife offence case, seized the snares and launched a search for the poachers using a dog squad, spy cameras and confidential inputs.Meanwhile, as the foresters intensified their anti-poaching operations, in the last seven days 19 poachers have been arrested.Forest officials credited SDO Kashyap, Dr Jharia and his team, SDOs Jagdish Prasad Darro and Bhopal Singh Rajput, rangers and deputy rangers for the rescue.