UDUPI: A male leopard strayed into human habitation on the outskirts of Brahmavara town in Udupi district here on Sunday morning.
It entered a storeroom near the house of one Agnesh Shetty in Billadi village near Nailady, Brahmavara. The leopard, the age of which could be six or seven years according to forest department officials, was later captured by them without any injury to it or the public.
High drama prevailed when the leopard came chasing a dog, injured it, and got trapped inside a storeroom. It ransacked the items in the storeroom in a bid to escape, however, the residents nearby locked the storeroom door from outside trapping it inside.
They informed the forest department officials later. Shankaranarayana RFO Chidanand and other staff then placed a cage carefully to get the leopard inside the cage. Hundreds of villagers had gathered by that time to take a glimpse of the wild cat that was making deafening noise and was seen with all aggressiveness.
Veterinary specialists were summoned to the spot from the nearby veterinary hospital in Saibarakatte and they certified that the animal was safe and can be released into the forest.
RFO Chidanand said that the cage came to the rescue because the leopard jumped out of the storeroom and pounced directly onto the cage.
"After about one and half hours of operation, it was captured and released into the wild", he said.