By Bijoy Handique

 

Jorhat : Five to six years old female leopard who was terrorizing the campus of the CSIR-North East Institute of Science and Technology (NEIST) for past 15 to 20 days was caged in early wee hours from an area between the boundary between IAF Station and NEIST, said Tonkeswar Gayan, a Forest official here today.

 

Forest official said, this she –leopard was creating panic for the past couple of weeks due to her mating period as it was suspected that she was in search of her partner for which she was making movement even during day hours which they do not do in human habitat areas. At this period they become imbalance as in normal state they generally move in such areas only after dark. The campus of Indian Air Force Station, Rain Forest Research Station, CSIR-NEIST ONGC residential colony, Cinnamora has become the heaven for marauding leopard and royal Bengal tiger as they skip into these areas through the adjacent garden area. So far as per Jorhat Forest Division inputs from CSIR-NEIST four, RFRI six, IAF Jorhat three and from ONGC Colony three has been trapped after placing caged in past one year, said a Forest official here. All were later released at Kaziranga National Park.

 

Today’s trapped leopard has been released at the Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary late in the night hours, said Forest sources.