Haridwar

Leopard removed from house after 10 hour struggle

Forest Department officials, employees, wildlife experts and police personnel were involved in a more than 10-hour operation to rescue a leopard that had intruded into a house and got trapped at Nirmala Chawani in Haridwar on Sunday morning.

House owner Rajendra Jain first spotted the leopard around 9 am entering from the open main gate and then from the window of his bathroom. He raised the alarm to alert his family members. When Rajendra entered another room of his house, he saw the leopard sitting in the bed comfortably.

The shocked youth closed the door and alerted his family members and neighbours. Soon, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) HK Singh along with forest personnel and police arrived at Nirmala Chawani. The whole area was cordoned off to ensure smooth rescue of leopard.

The DFO said the rescue operation started at 9:30 am and was going on till 6 pm as the leopard was not coming out into the cage put up at the door of the room. “If by dusk the leopard is not caught, we will extend the rescue operation till tomorrow morning. It will be quite risky to catch the animal at night. Also, wild animals normally don’t move in the dark and prefer wee hours of the morning for movement,” said the DFO.

According to wildlife experts, as Nirmala Chawani is situated in close proximity to the Rajaji Tiger Reserve, the wild animal would have intruded into the residential settlement in search of food or may have lost its way.

As the news about the leopard locked in a house spread, hundreds of people gathered at Nirmala Chawani till the evening. Forest and police officials urged them to keep distance and decongest the area as their presence was affecting the rescue operation.

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