Rajkot: The outsider leopard that had entered the RMC run Rajkot Zoological Park (Pradhyumn Park Zoo) and killed a deer there recently has finally been caught, Superintendent of the Zoo, Ranchhod Hirpara today said.

He said that the around 5 to 6 year old male leopard which most probably had sneaked in to Rajkot from the forests of Chotila, was found trapped in one of the over half a dozen trap cages kept inside the zoo premises spread across 137 acre of area.

The Zoo Director said that even though the outer boundary wall of the zoo kept in a natural jungle like form was quite high and even barbed but a leopard, which is a natural climber beast can scale it. The beast had killed the deer in the night of February 16. ‘Though there were no CCTV footage or pug mark to prove the presence of a leopard, the observation of the dead deer by our experts almost confirmed that it was kill by a leopard only. The canine teeth found on the dead animal’s neck and leg portion were certainly those of a leopard. So we placed 7 to 8 trap cages all over and kept the zoo closed but when we did not find any other proof, we opened it for public from Wednesday but with a precaution and increased security. The beats was found trapped in one of the cages this morning,’ he said.

Notably in July 2018, a tigress in the zoo has died of snake-bite.

The zoo has 55 species of animals and birds with 17 Asiatic lions, 9 white tigers, a yellow tigress and a pair of leopard.

DeshGujarat