The incident is a result of a man-wildlife conflict and the cub was caught at Kamaram tanda in Chinna Shankarampet mandal in Medak district on September 11.
A one-and-a-half year leopard cub has been trapped in a cage and separated from its mother and sent to the Warangal zoo.
The incident is a result of a man-wildlife conflict and the cub was caught at Kamaram tanda in Chinna Shankarampet mandal in Medak district on September 11.
However, in an unfortunate turn of events, the one-and-a-half year old cub, was removed from its family, its mother and two siblings, possibly robbing it of valuable lessons from its mother on how to survive on its own in the wild.
Guidelines of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) clearly state that cubs, whether of a leopard or a tiger, should not be trapped and taken away from their mothers. If accidentally trapped, such a cub should be immediately released in the same area to give it an opportunity to reunite with its mother.
In case a mother is trapped, the same principle applies.
According to Warangal forest range officer P. Bikshapati, also in charge of the Kakatiya Zoo: “The cub had some minor injuries for which it was treated. Since it was used to different kind of food in the wild, we are taking care of it.”
Whether the cub will be released in the Kawal tiger reserve, the forest range officer said he was not aware of any such plans. “It was brought to the zoo, we are taking care of it and it is well now,” he said.
Forest Department officials maintain that the golden principle is that young animals should not put into cages. Instead, there should be intensive monitoring to ensure the animals and humans do not come into conflict. None of the four leopards attacked any human, or killed any cattle or sheep, officials admitted.
Guidelines of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) clearly state that cubs, whether of a leopard or a tiger, should not be trapped and taken away from their mothers. If accidentally trapped, such a cub should be immediately released in the same area to give it an opportunity to reunite with its mother.
Officials say the main reason for trapping the animal were some real estate venture owners egging on villagers, and some directly approaching forest officials to catch the leopards as their presence could hurt their business prospects.
Typically, cubs of big cats start leaving their mothers between 18 and 24 months after they are born. Male cubs tend to leave their mothers earlier than their female siblings.
Following the trapping of the cub and moving it to the Kakatiya Zoo in Warangal, the forest department had said that the one-and-a-half-year-old cub would be observed if it could hunt and if so, would be released in the Kawal tiger reserve in a month or two.
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