Leopard escapes from zoo, residents panic

A leopard has escaped from a Zoo in Gadag in north Karnataka, creating panic among people residing in nearby areas.

According to forest department officials, the leopard had given a slip to the animal keepers at Binkadkatte Zoo in Gadag by breaking open a wooden floor of the cage. The Zoo authorities, who did not find any trace of the animal in the zoo premises, concluded that the leopard had leapt out of the six-feet wall to freedom.

The escape of the leopard from the zoo has triggered panic among the residents of the villages adjoining the zoo. Keeping in mind the threat a hungry leopard posed to human beings, the forest department officials have alerted the people residing in surrounding areas. “We have asked the villagers to remain vigilant and inform us immediately in case they spot a leopard”, a senior forest department official said.

The leopard, which has gone missing from Binkadkatte Zoo since the last two days, had been captured by the forest department staff barely a month ago when it had accidentally strayed into a school compound in Hubli from the surrounding forest areas.

The forest department staff said the leopard had been behaving ferociously ever since it was caged and kept in the Zoo. “It had injured its forehead by hanging its head against the iron rods of the cage”, the official said. Finally, it made good its escape by breaking a wooden plank that served as the floor of the cage.

Meanwhile, the forest department had constituted special squads to hunt the runaway carnivore in the surrounding areas. With the nearest jungles from the zoo located at a distance of 50 kms, the forest department is hoping that the leopard reaches the forest areas instead of straying into the innumerable villages in the zoo’s vicinity.

The special squads of the forest department, armed with tranquilizing guns, are mounting a vigil at the water bodies and looking for pug marks of the runaway leopard.