KOCHI : Forest officials of Malayatoor division had a busy day after two elephants, including a calf, and a leopard and were caught in traps late Thursday and early Friday.
While the leopard was caught in a trap set up in a rubber plantation under the Kannimangalam forest station near Kalady, the elephants fell into an old elephant trap in Kuttampetta near Kothamangalam forest area. Following complaints from residents Kannimangalam, who heard the sounds of a leopard in nearby areas at night, forest officials had laid traps in a few rubber plantations bordering the forests.
“We had seen paw marks of the animal in the last two days in the area. So, we were sure that there was one around. The leopard was trapped in the early hours of Friday,” said Kalady range officer S Jayanth Kumar.
He said the leopard would be freed in the Parambikulam forest after a vet examines it. They have not found any injury marks on its body, he added.
Meanwhile, forest officials said the elephants may have fallen into the old trap in Kuttampetta near Kothamangalam forest area on Thursday night when the herd was passing through the forest area.
“Our watchmen had heard cries in the night. In the morning, a team went and widened a slope of the huge hole. One was a calf which climbed out on its own without our help. The other, a three-year-old male, took some time. The two joined the herd which was standing a little far away,” said Malayattoor divisional forest officer K Vijayananthan.