Darjeeling: It was the return of the adult leopard on Friday. After four days, Sachin, the adult leopard returned to his enclosure at Bengal Safari on his own. When drones, trap cameras and cages failed, it was sheer hunger that forced Sachin to return.
Sachin, an adult leopard had escaped from the leopard enclosure at Bengal Safari near Siliguri on Tuesday morning.
More than a 100 forest personnel along with wildlife squads; four trained elephants and vehicles had been pressed into the search operations along with cages, trap cameras and drones.
The Park authorities had kept the main gate of the leopard open. "Sachin has lost the habit of hunting. He was rescued from a tea garden when he was very young. Though we had seen pug marks in the herbivore enclosure where he could have been hiding, none of the herbivores including deer were attacked. We were sure that Sachin would be hungry so we left the enclosure gate open," stated Rajendra Jakhar, acting director of the Park.
At around 4:30 pm on Friday, the animal keepers while doing their daily work after keeping food in the enclosures started calling names of the leopards.
The two female leopards Shital and Kajal entered the enclosure from the safari area, ate and went into the
night shelters.
After sometime, the keepers saw Sachin limping in. As he looked quite sick.
Although no tranquilizer was used. He too ate and went into his night shelter adhering to his routine.
"Sachin has a limp and cuts on his head and below his eye. He could have been injured while trying to cross the energised fence (electric fence with voltage enough to deliver a shock but not to kill). On closer inspection, we saw that the wounds are superficial and he will heal quickly. Other than that he has been eating normally," said Jakhar
The authorities feel that this is the rarest of incidents. "It's a high-energized fence. Leopards are natural climbers and climb trees as well. But it is rare that Sachin climbed a tree and then jumped over the fence," stated a Park official.
However, the Park authorities have decided to improvise after taking lessons from the incident. "We do not have cages and nets. We will procure these equipment to use during emergency," added Jakhar.
The Park will function normally from Saturday with all the safaris remaining open. However, Sachin will not be let out into the Safari. Visitors will be
allowed to walk also.
"Despite getting a certificate from the national Zoo Authority, how did the security of the place get compromised? We will send a note to the National Zoo Authority to review the infrastructure and safety measures," stated Binoy Krishna Burman,
Forest minister.