Leopard rescued from Morinda village after 12-hour operation

The Forest and Wildlife Department on Sunday rescued a six-year-old male leopard from Amraali village in Morinda after a 12-hour-long operation.

The suspected sighting of a leopard two weeks ago had created a scare in the Morinda and Kharar areas. Villagers had earlier spotted pugmarks in their fields about a month ago.

On Sunday morning, villagers spotted the leopard perched on a tree following which the wildlife team was called. Officials said the leopard first slipped into a fodder store in the nearby fields. “We drove a jeep into the fields to flush it out. Later, it ran into paddy fields. It was only in the evening around 5 pm that we were able to track and tranquilise the leopard,” said Kulraj Singh Randhawa, DFO, Ropar Range.

Officials said the feline had been sent to Chhatbir Zoo for the time being till it was released in the forest.

Meanwhile, residents of Simbalmajra in Kharar and Mahmoodpur in Fatehgarh Sahib have been living in fear since the sighting of pugmarks in the fields on September 9 and 10. A team of the Mohali Wildlife Department had combed the area, but the leopard continued to elude them. Since no one had spotted the feline, nor any carcass was found, its presence could not be confirmed.