Karnataka: Elephants and dogs roped in to catch leopard in Belagavi

The Karnataka Forest Department has launched an operation to catch a leopard which has been spotted at various locations in Belagavi. Forest officials, along with police personnel, cages, dogs and elephants are on the ground to catch the leopard.

“We decided to rope in all the equipment, manpower and even animal power to catch a leopard that was being spotted by travellers in Belagavi. We have set up eight cages and 22 cameras at various locations. Few numbers of Mudhol dogs are also helping us search for the leopard and two elephants from Shivamogga have just arrived. A total of 120 forest officials and 80 state police personnel are involved in the operation. We will catch the leopard soon,” a forest official from Belagavi told HT.

As a precautionary measure, many schools in Belagavi have been shut for the last two weeks. On Monday, the leopard was spotted during the search operation but it escaped before forest officials trapped it with a specially designed net. The leopard is said to be on the premises of the Golf Club of Belagavi located in the centre of the city.

The leopard initially showed up at Belagavi on August 8 and it reportedly injured a daily wage worker in the city. The CCTV footage has spotted the leopard multiple times and officials are also tracking the big cat through its footprints.