Mysore, March 17: After a lull of a few months, a leopard strayed into the city on?Friday, causing anxious moments for hours. However, unlike previous such instances, an elderly man suffered injuries when the big cat attacked him unaware.
Abdul Rehman?Shariff, aged 60 years and a watchman at an autorickshaw shed in A?J?Block on Udayagiri main road, came out of the shed after hearing the barking dogs. It was around 6 am and curious Shariff moved further, only to be attacked by the big cat.
Petrified, he fell on his back, while the leopard bit him on his hand, abdomen and also right leg. He also suffered heard injuries in the melee.
When the barking dogs came running behind, the leopard jumped on the autos parked inside and made its way into a thick bush near a huge drain behind Doddamma Thaayi Kalyana Mantapa.
Forest personnel, who by then had been informed about the incident from the control room at deputy commissioner’s office, rushed to the spot only to hear about the incident.
The leopard played hide and seek and remained elusive. Around 11 am, a local informed the forest personnel about sighting the wild animal near a bush. To their dismay, when they kept a watch on the bush from the other side of the drain, nothing fructified.
Moreover, a stray dog went inside the bush and came out forcing the personnel on toes with a tranquiliser gun on his hand to have a second thought.
Unfazed, some among the public thought of an idea and hit the bush with a ladder repeatedly, forcing the hiding leopard to eventually come out. The operation that had taken a pause awhile, regained pace at 11 am, when the leopard gave some hard time for the forest personnel to dart.
Finally, after receiving two shots of dart, the leopard gave up, facilitating forest and alert public to net the animal. It was a male, aged about five years. It was also robust, assistant conservator of forest Devaraj told Deccan Herald. The leopard was later released near Kaimara bordering Kerala, at D?B?Kuppe forest range in Nagarahole National Park.
Don’t disturb them’
In an appeal that could evade possible danger during leopard sightings in the city, assistant conservator of forest Devaraj said: “All animals are shy in nature and they do not harm anybody if left undisturbed. The animals react and attack only when they are either teased or hit by external force. With shrinking forest cover, leopards are breeding in sugarcane fields in all parts of the state, as they find it safe. During summer, they venture out of the fields.”
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