CHENNAI: A three-year-old leopard that strayed into a private school campus causing fear among residents in Tirupattur was captured on early Saturday morning after a dramatic 10-hour standoff by forest officials, as reported by Daily Thanthi.
As the officials attempted to catch it, the leopard leapt over a 10-foot wall into a nearby car parking shed. However, the team of forest department comprising veterinarians, who arrived from Hosur, supported by fire and revenue department personnel, as well as the police, managed to tranquilize the animal.
The captured leopard was safely released back into a reserve forest.
“We have successfully caught the straying leopard. And also rescued the five people stranded in their car” the official said.
“It was very terrifying spending 6-7 hours inside the car. We were apprehensive that the animal might attack us if we stepped out,” said Asgar Khan, among the five rescued by the forest and police officials.
According to an official, a parent who had come to the Mary Immaculate Girls Higher Secondary School, on the rear end of the Collectorate office in Tirupattur town, to pick his child up around 4 pm on Friday caught sight of the leopard outside the campus and immediately informed the authorities.
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The leopard managed to evade the forest officials and dashed into the school premises where it attacked Gopal, a 55-year-old worker.
Gopal was rushed to Tirupattur Government Hospital. Tirupathur Collector K Tharpagaraj confirmed that he was stable and was receiving treatment.
The leopard's presence had caused panic, leading to the immediate lockdown of the school to protect the students. The district administration had also declared a three-day holiday to all the schools in the vicinity.
“Foresters from the Tamil Nadu Forest Department successfully translocated a leopard in early hours of the morning today,” Additional Chief Secretary, Environment, Climate Change and Forests, Supriya Sahu informed.
“The leopard had entered Tirupathur town causing panic. Three teams from the Department with Vets and experts tranquilised the leopard and safely released him in a forest area. Kudos to the team #TNForest #wildliferescue #leopard,” she said in a post on the social media platform X.
(With additional inputs from PTI)