Watch: Leopard High Up A Tree In Karnataka’s Channapatna Rescued By Bannerghatta Veterinary Team

A two-year-old female leopard was rescued from Igloor in Channapatna, in Karnataka’s Ramanagara district, and transferred to the Bengaluru-based Bannerghatta Biological Park’s rescue centre.

The rescue and relocation of the leopard was carried out by Bannerghatta park’s veterinary team, led by Dr Umashankar.

The Bengaluru zoo has shared the highlights of the rescue act in a video on Twitter.

The video shows the leopard perched towards the top of a 90-foot-high tree, as the local residents, police, and the Bannerghatta park team watch on from below. 

One of the members of the park’s veterinary team is seen darting the leopard — a mighty hard task when the animal is so up high, rather than the typical case of when it's on the ground.

Darting is a technique which involves firing of a syringe into an animal so as to inject a dose of appropriate drug and, therefore, immobilise the animal chemically. This enables the rescue of a wild animal.

The leopard was darted successfully, apparently after a few attempts, as seen in the video. While the dose took effect on the cat, a group of people spread out a wide net underneath in order to provide the falling leopard with a cushioned landing.

The leopard then falls into the net, after which it is successfully rescued and then relocated to the rescue centre for a lifetime’s care.

Watch here:

Only about a month ago, the Bannerghatta veterinary team successfully rescued a six-month-old female leopard cub near Nelamangala range, in Bangalore Rural district.

“The cub was found to be blind & had fractures in hind limb & tail,” the Bannerghatta Zoo had said in a tweet. The female leopard cub was then shifted to the rescue centre.

Zoos, as long as they have appropriate housing and upkeep facilities, are allowed to function as rescue centres for orphaned, refused, or rescued animals, as per the National Zoo Policy, 1998.

Most animals rescued by the Bannerghatta team, typically after human-animal conflict or from illegal trade, are housed within the Bannerghatta Rehabilitation Centre.

The Centre was started by the Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre. It is part of the park, but situated away from the zoo premises and not open to the public.

The Government of India established the rescue centre in 1999. It became operational the next year. It is spread over an area of 17.50 hectares within the biological park limits.

Forty wild leopards were housed with the rescue centre, according to the park’s annual report for 2021-22. The rescues were “due to large number of wild animal-human conflict in Karnataka.”