Surat: Leopard who killed three deer, caught

Forest officials had laid seven cages containing bait and installed 18 night vision cameras in different parts of the compound to trap the leopard. On Thursday night, the leopard scaled the compound wall again and entered the deer’s park. Spotting no deer, he entered a cage behind the palace and was trapped.

Vansda Range forest officials reached the palace, radio-tagged the leopard and examined his body. They later freed him deep into the jungle.

Range Forest Officer Narendra Gadhvi said, “We laid cages at different places with night vision cameras to track the leopard. We also shifted the deer to an open area where the leopard could not enter. On footage, we saw the leopard enter a cage to eat hen and get trapped. We radio-tagged and freed him at a distance from the palace. We have left some cages in the deer park for a few days. At present, we haven’t shifted deer back to the park.”