CURCHOREM: The officials of the forest department recently rescued a leopard at Khursa Waddo, Ambaulim-Quepem; however, this has raised fears among the residents that there may be the other leopards in the area.
It may be recalled that the Forest department personnel on Wednesday rescued a leopard at Khursa Waddo in Ambaulim. The operation was conducted by Range Forest Officer Minguel Fernandes along with his team and was assisted by a rescue team from Margao. The leopard was later shifted to the wildlife sanctuary at Bondla.
Speaking to reporters, residents informed that they had alerted the Forest department after they learnt that the leopard had been attacking their animals during the last four months. The forest officials immediately laid a trap in the village and succeeded in trapping the wildcat after a period of nearly 20 days.
Meanwhile, residents from the area have expressed fears that there could be other wildcats in close proximity of the village. The fears are being raised after the forest department had rescued another leopard at Cavrem-Pirla barely four months ago.
When contacted, Quepem Municipal Council (QMC) Chairperson Dayesh Naik lauded FRO Fernandes and his team for the successful operation. “After a trap was laid, the forest officials visited the site daily for almost 20 days to see if the leopard was trapped. The officials kept hens and other food items as bait inside the cage to trap the wild cat,” informed Naik.
“There could be other such wild cats in and around, as two years back two such animals were rescued at Pimpalcotto-Shirov and Bobromoddi-Quepem,” he said.
When contacted, local ward councillor and QMC vice-chairperson Camilo Simoes admitted that forest officials did a good job, but felt that instead of shifting the leopard to Bondla, the forest officials should have left the animal in the interior jungle so it could move freely.