A wild leopard that entered a house in Karnataka’s Tumakuru district and carried goat in its mouth scared the residents on Monday night. The incident happened at Bandigowdanapalya village near Huliyurdurga in Kunigal taluk on Monday night.
Forest Department officials after six-hour rescue operation caught the leopard which had frightened villagers. It happened at Chikka Mariyappa resident’s house at around 9 PM when wild animal came unexpectedly and made an ordinary evening scary for the family.
Villagers said the leopard had been roaming around outskirts of Bandigowdanapalya village for nearly a month now. They say they had seen it in surrounding areas several times and were worried about people and domestic animals’ safety as well.
Villagers say that leopard entered the village during night time to look for food. On Monday night, it caught goat and went into Chikka Mariyappa’s house. It was an unexpected scary situation for occupants of the house.
The most frightening part of the incident was that Narasamma (woman) was inside watching television when leopard came in. She was sitting comfortably and watching television when suddenly wild animal came inside carrying goat.
Leopard seeing her scared her so much that she ran out of house without wasting time closing door from outside as well as keeping it shut so that animal cannot move out of building freely. That’s how she escaped from potentially dangerous situation.
Villagers were alerted and information was passed on to Forest Department. News of leopard entering the house spread around and people started gathering in surrounding area as they were afraid that leopard is trapped inside the residential property.
Leopard was still inside the house and if disturbed it could become aggressive; officials and forest staff rushed to the spot to manage situation and safety of villagers.
Forest Department personnel then launched a rescue operation with Kiran (an anaesthesia expert who came from Bannerghatta) helping them. The team examined the situation and tried to locate the animal inside the house. Officials found the leopard had taken shelter under a cot in the building.
Leopard was hiding under the cot so it was difficult for officials to rescue it. Since there was danger involved officials did not try to force the leopard out of its hiding place.
An anaesthesia expert of the team gave tranquillising injection to the leopard. It was a very patient and coordinated operation as officials worked to capture the wild animal without injuring people or the leopard itself.
After about six hours of hard work Forest Department team finally succeeded in catching the wild animal. The tense situation which kept villagers worried throughout the night came to an end with the successful rescue operation.
As soon as the leopard was captured residents of Bandigowdanapalya breathed a sigh of relief. The operation also put an end to any possibility of further danger to people living in the village. This incident has once again brought to fore the increasing concern over human-wildlife encounters in rural Karnataka (villages near areas frequented by wild animals).
The leopard sightings over the last month had already caused anxiety among villagers. The incident where the animal entered a residential house with a goat has once again put wildlife movement near human settlements under scrutiny. Leopards are generally shy animals and like to stay away from people but shrinking natural habitats, domestic animals available nearby and search for food can sometimes bring them closer to villages and residential areas.
The Kunigal incident also reminds people not to confront wild animals directly. If leopards are sighted residents should stay safe at a distance, children and domestic animals out of sight and call the Forest Department immediately. If you chase, surround or capture a leopard without professional help then human life is at risk.
For residents of Bandigowdanapalya, Monday night’s scary experience was over after a gruelling six-hour rescue operation. Narasamma escaped from the house but Forest Department officials’ intervention saved entire village.
The incident once again brought to fore the need for timely wildlife rescue operations and better coordination between local people and forest authorities so that human-wildlife conflicts do not occur.
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