alipurduar: An adult female leopard which was on the prowl in the Atiabari Tea Estate in Kalchini block, Alipurduar district, was finally caged on Monday morning. The big cat fell into a trap laid by the Forest department. On Monday morning, garden workers found the leopard caged in the ‘out division’ of the garden. Foresters later took the animal to Buxa Tiger Reserve and released it.
Parveen Kaswan, Deputy Field Director of Buxa Tiger Reserve (west) stated: “Around seven days ago, we received a correspondence from the management of Atiabari Tea Garden regarding the presence of a leopard in the tea garden. The leopard was posing a danger and the tea garden authorities requested in writing for it to be captured. Based on the request and field situation, a cage was set in the tea garden and regular patrolling and scanning was undertaken by the Nimati range staff.”
On Monday morning, the leopard was trapped in the cage from the 16A section of the Atiabari Tea Garden area. The leopard was brought to Rajabhatkhawa veterinary unit for preliminary treatment. “After the preliminary treatment, the leopard was released successfully and in a healthy condition in the core area of the Buxa tiger reserve at 8 am,” added Kaswan.