Leopard giving sleepless nights to the ICRISAT management

The leopard giving sleepless nights to the ICRISAT management and employees for over a month and a half remains elusive despite best efforts of foresters.

The silver lining is that the animal has recently killed a bait tied in the open and devoured it, giving officials hope of being able to tranquillise it.

Bait effort

The department has deployed two veterinary experts at the ICRISAT premises to try and immobilise the animal through tranquillisation. The officials also made the bait available in the open, which was killed five days ago. However, it was too dark for the veterinary experts to take a shot at the animal by the time the killing had taken place, officials informed.

In the first week of February, the leopard, a healthy male, advertised its presence on the campus to the security guards, who reported the matter to the department. In the subsequent days, they took pictures of the animal on mobile phones for officials to confirm if it was a leopard.

Cages and cameras

When it became clear that it indeed was a panther, officials set up camera traps and cages inside the sprawling 3,500-acre campus to trap the animal. They also issued an advisory to the ICRISAT employees about the dos and don’ts with a feline on the prowl. Four trap cages and 20-25 camera traps are presently set up on the premises.

“We are trying all permutations and combinations. We replaced the smaller cages with larger ones, and when that did not work, we bought four specially made cages with plastic screens so that the bait will be visible to the leopard,” informed an official.

The cages, each costing ?1 lakh, were supplemented by eight special infrared camera traps, which do not cast flash when capturing the images, he said.

However, the big cat has outsmarted them, and continues to roam the campus.

Summer stay

With harsh summer months ahead, it is unlikely that the animal would leave the premises voluntarily, as there is ample prey and water available inside. “There are three big lakes inside and plenty of game such as peafowl, porcupine and hare. I don’t think the animal will leave voluntarily,” said the official.

Besides, there are impenetrably wooded regions on the campus, providing thick cover for the animal during the day, he added.