BANGALORE: A leopard that was shown in some sections of the media to be hanging from a tree at Kallanahalli in Mysore district is said to have been suffering from severe liver infection. It was one of five leopards that were radio-collared six months ago.
The leopard was not hanging from a tree; department personnel were lowering the carcass from the treetop with the help of a rope to take it for postmortem, said Sanjay Gubbi, founder of Nature Conservation Foundation who is doing research on leopards.
The autopsy was conducted by a forest department veterinarian and a veterinarian of the Institute of Animal Health and Veterinary Biologicals, Mysore regional office.
According to the veterinarians, the abscess could have led to liver infection. The preliminary investigation report has revealed no external injuries and no marks of strangulation.
Gubbi told Express, “Five leopards captured by the Karnataka Forest Department were radio-collared by our foundation on March 21, 2014 under the supervision of forest officials and veterinarians. We have valid research permits. There is no link between radio-collaring and the death of the leopard. Leopards spend a lot of time on trees, hence there’s nothing unusual about the death of a leopard on a tree.”
He said the whereabouts of four other leopards is not known as the radio collars fixed on them have dropped off as the batteries have been exhausted.
Radio collars are programmed in such a way that the collar drops off as soon as its battery becomes weak. The maximum life of each battery is six months. “The battery on the radio collar on the dead leopard was working,” Gubbi said.
“I have been collaring leopards captured and translocated by the forest department. This research is carried out to understand human-leopard conflict, and to understand what happens to translocated leopards. The department is updated on every collaring activity,” Gubbi said.
Gubbi, who was present at the time of autopsy, said the viscera collected from the dead animal has been sent to an institute in Hebbal to ascertain the exact reason for the death.
“It may take at least a week’s time to arrive at a conclusion,” he added.
When contacted, a senior forest officer said the department would take the future course of action only after receiving the detailed postmortem report.