Search on for two more leopards: Officials

PAMPORE: A female leopard was captured alive and her two cubs saved by wildlife officials of Khrew Range in Munpora village of Pampore on Tuesday.

The leopard and her two cubs were captured alive under the supervision of Range Officer Khrew Range Khurshid Ahmad, officials told Kashmir Reader.

This is the sixth leopard captured in the last two months by wildlife Range Khrew in Munpora Wuyan and Balhama area, officials said.

The officials told Kashmir Reader that they received information of a leopard and her two cubs being seen near a cowshed at Munpora, following which they sent teams to capture it.

Ranger Khrew Khurshid Ahmad said that they received a call from village head of Munpora, Ghulam Mohi Ud-Din, that a leopard along with two cubs was seen in a cowshed which belonged to Abdul Salam Baba, son of Habib Ullah, resident of Munpora.

“Immediately a team from Range Khrew was sent to the spot with tranquilliser guns who captured the mother leopard after tranquilising her. Her three-day-old two cubs were also saved,” he said, adding that the cubs were fed at range office and later the animals were shifted to Dachigam forest area.

He added that in the past two months six leopards and two cubs have now been captured from different areas of Range Khrew.

He said that the leopard was caught without causing any damage to property or people. He appreciated his team.

Khursheed Ahmad told Kashmir Reader that on late Monday night a search operation was also launched near Baitul Uloom Tanchibagh in Pampore town after they received phone calls from many locals about presence of a leopard in the residential area near Baitul Uloom Tachibagh. He said a team of wildlife experts was immediately rushed to the spot with tranquilliser guns to capture the leopard, but by then the leopard had fled from the spot.

Another leopard, he said, was reported to be roaming freely in Khunchoo village of Pampore.

Ahmad said that the department received information of a leopard being spotted in Khunchoo area, following which a team was sent to capture it. He said that the team launched a search operation and laid a trap in the area to capture the leopard which poses threat to people’s lives and livestock.

BILAL HABIB