A leopard that was found trapped in a snare was set free into the forest in Devikulam taluk on Monday.
Workers found a six-year-old male leopard trapped in a snare at a vegetable farm on Thalayar Estate, 24 km from Munnar, and alerted the Forest Department.
Officials accompanied by a veterinary surgeon reached the spot by 9.30 a.m. and released it to the wild after giving preliminary treatment.
Timely information
“The leopard was found healthy. It was trying to escape from the snare. We could reach there soon after the animal entered the snare so it did not suffer injuries,” Munnar Range Officer Hareendrakumar said adding that timely information helped them save the animal.
“It was immediately released into the forest. The department has registered a case. It is suspected that the snare was not aimed at the leopard but for some smaller animals that enter the cultivated area of the tea estate,” Munnar Range Officer Hareendrakumar said.
He said the area was not human inhabited but part of the tea estate where workers cultivated vegetables.
Leopard poaching
On January 22, five persons were arrested for trapping a leopard and consuming its meat at the buffer zone at Mankulam near Munnar. The leopard was killed for its skin, nail, and tooth, preliminary inquiries found.
In September 2020, a leopard was found dead in a snare at Kannimala lower division in Munnar. An inquiry found that a man set the snare for trapping the leopard which had killed his cow nearly a year ago.
Forest officials found a leopard dead in a snare at Chendavurrai Estate in Munnar in August 2010. A rusted iron rod of the snare had pierced the animal’s abdomen.
In tea estates near to the forest in Munnar, wild animals, including leopards, elephants and wild boars, come to residential areas of plantations and cause heavy damage. Man-animal conflicts have increased steadily in the past few years in the plantation areas.
