Leopard released after microchip implantation in Golaghat

A CORRESPONDENT

NUMALIGARH: A leopard was caged at the Rangamati Tea Estate in Golaghat district on Saturday, the fourth one to be caged in Golaghat forest division in a span of two months. A cage was set by foresters to catch the leopard after numerous cattle of the area went missing during the past couple of months. The villagers had asked the forest department to cage the leopard which was allegedly killing domestic animals in the area.

On Saturday morning, locals of the area saw an adult male leopard inside the cage and very soon the area was filled by villagers. On being informed, a team of foresters reached the spot. Later, the forest officials from Golaghat forest division took the leopard away. A team of CWRC, Kaziranga, visited and implanted a microchip inside the body of the tiger after tranquillizing it. The leopard was then taken to the CWRC centre at Kaziranga where it was kept under observation for the night.

Next morning, that is on Sunday, it was taken back and freed at an undisclosed location in Nambor-Doigrung Wildlife Sanctuary. Veterinarian of CWRC, Dr Samshul Ali said, "The 8-year-old male leopard was trapped at Rongamati TE. It carried some facial skin aberrations which got treated. Along with that a microchip was implanted and biological samples were collected that were subjected to tests. Leopard trapping or human-leopard conflict is a long standing issue in Golaghat. Microchip implantation will help us detect the pattern if the leopard is to be captured again." 

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