Hyderabad, May 28 (IANS) A panther, which was rescued by forest officials in Telangana’s Nalgonda district, died while being shifted to Hyderabad’s Nehru Zoological Park on Thursday.
Zoo officials said that it was about a seven-year-old male panther, which was earlier believed to be a leopard.
A rescue team from the Nehru Zoological Park (NZP) had rushed to Rajipeta Thanda in Nalgonda district after receiving the information that a panther was trapped in a wire snare kept by the farmers for trapping wild boars.
The team led by Asadullah, veterinary assistant surgeon, NZP, rescued the panther safely by chemical immobilisation.
However, the panther died on the way while it was being shifted to the zoo.
A team of veterinary experts conducted the post-mortem and certified that the animal died due to internal haemorrhage, shock and asphyxia. All the samples have been collected and sent to the Veterinary Biological Research Institute (VBRI) for detailed investigation, NZP curator N. Kshitija said.
Earlier, the panther created a scare by chasing the rescue team. Two forest personnel sustained minor injuries.
The team had apparently administered a tranquiliser dart when the panther was trapped in the snare but before it could work, they tried to free it from the snare.
The big cat chased the forest personnel and attacked them. The video of the incident shows the panther pouncing on the forest personnel, making them run for cover.
Others wielding sticks took cover behind their four-wheeler and acted bravely to finally trap the animal into the cage.
The panther had strayed into the village from a nearby forest. This is the latest in a series of incidents of big cats straying into human habitations in the state.
On May 14, a leopard had strayed into the Katedan area on the outskirts of Hyderabad and was seen resting in the middle of a road, sending panic among the people.
While escaping from the area, it attacked a truck driver, causing minor injury. The animal later disappeared into a nearby farmhouse. Though the forest department and police teams tried to trap the leopard with bait, it gave them the slip. After two days, the forest officials called off the search. They said it had headed towards the Chilkur forest.
–IANS
ms/arm