Leopard strays inside Guwahati, captured after three hours

A leopard, which had strayed outside its habitat atop Nabagraha hills in Guwahati, was captured using a tranquiliser after a three-hour long attempt in Silphukhuri area of the city.

The leopard had injured three persons and also sustained minor injuries after panic-stricken people tried to scare it away by throwing stones at it. The animal was first spotted inside a residential campus in the thickly-populated area at around 11.30 am.

"It is an adult male leopard aged between eight to ten years. It is now being kept under the observation of doctors in the Assam State Zoo after its capture," said Utpal Bora, the divisional forest officer of the zoo.

A team of veterinarians and wildlife rescue personnel from the state zoo managed to tranquilise it after the animal had taken shelter inside a house to save itself from the crowd.

Guwahati has a number of wildlife species including several highly endangered ones in the forest areas in its outskirts and the hills within the city. Today, the leopard had come down from Nabagraha hills within the city.

At least 20 leopards including several cubs have been killed in the city in the past two decades. The 216-sq km large Guwahati has nearly 26.42 sq km area marked as reserved forests, which have been vastly encroached upon, according to information received from the forest department.

In addition to encroachment of hill areas within the city, there have been rampant illegal earth cutting and tree-felling in and around the city despite a number of laws being in force to prevent these illegal activities.