RANCHI: A leopard that got stuck in a trap meant to capture wild boars in Bhimtari jungles of Giridih died of hunger and thirst as no serious efforts were made to rescue it. Locals have claimed that the forest officials reached the trap only after being informed by them.
The forest department, however, has claimed that every possible effort was made to rescue the spotted animal.
“It appears that someone had put a trap for wild boars in which the leopard got stuck. As it was trying to free itself, the trap got tightened further. Efforts are on to trace the person who had put the trap," said Ranger Anil Kumar.
All efforts were made to protect the leopard and a cage had also been arranged from Hazaribagh to shift it to a safer place but unfortunately, it died before that, he added.
According to the locals, those who had put the trap ran away after watching the leopard entering it. When they noticed the leopard groaning in agony, they informed the forest officials, but even they could not save it.
The forest official said that further details could be obtained only after getting the postmortem reports.
“Even after being informed, the forest officials did not turn up for several hours. They did not make any serious attempt to rescue it from the trap hence it died tormenting for several hours,” said a resident, requesting anonymity.
They kept on looking at the animal helplessly from a distance, he added.
Bhimtari jungles that fall under the Gawaan Forest Range of Giridih are very dense and have a sizeable number of wild animals in them. Generally, locals put traps to catch wild boars for their own consumption.