TEAM HERALD
teamherald@herald-goa.com
MARGAO: The leopard holed up in a bungalow at Pockwaddo-Betalbatim finally gave forest officials and animal rescue volunteers a slip at 12 midnight.
The leopard leaped out of the bungalow through the window ventilator before making good his escape under the cover of darkness, leaving the forest officials dumbstruck, drawing flak from local residents.
The leopard made his escape when the animal rescue team had laid the cage to trap the leopard, little realizing that the animal will escape through the ventilator of a rear window.
A local resident Seby Fernandes criticized what he called as an unplanned and unprofessional act of the forest officials. “They laid a trap near the closed door, while the leopard escaped through the ventilator of the toilet. The locals had sighted the leopard and trapped it inside the bungalow,” he said.
Forest officials said they would lay a trap on Tuesday evening to net the leopard, suspecting that it might be holed up in the green area of the village.
Replying to a question, the official said it was not surprising to find a leopard in the coastal village as the animal can adapt to any environment.