Leopard that strayed into pharma unit captured, shifted to Hyderabad zoo

The leopard had strayed into the H block of the Hetero Pharma unit and got trapped inside the building without being able to find its way out. Security staff of the unit noticed the leopard moving amid the reactors in the H-block on Saturday morning.

Sangareddy: A leopard, which strayed into the Hetero Pharmaceuticals Limited unit at Gadda Potharam village in Sangareddy district and got trapped inside the building, was tranquilised and shifted to the Nehru Zoological Park in Hyderabad in a cage on Saturday.

The leopard had strayed into the H block of the Hetero Pharma unit and got trapped inside the building without being able to find its way out. Security staff of the unit noticed the leopard moving amid the reactors in the H-block on Saturday morning. After going through the CCTV footage, it was suspected that the leopard could have entered the unit on Friday night from the nearby forest area.

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The unit management then called the District Forest and police officials, sending a video of the trapped leopard and seeking their help. Since the H-Block was totally closed with glass partitions, the rescue team could track the leopard’s movement by watching through the glass windows.

As they waited for the Nehru Zoological Park to send an expert team to capture the leopard, District Forest Officer Ch Sridhar Babu, Forest Range Offficer Veerendrababu and a team kept a watch on the unusual visitor.

A team headed by Dr. Naveen, Deputy Director, Veterinary (Retd) and Dr. Hakeem, Deputy Director (Veterinary), Nehru Zoological Park, meanwhile reached the spot and took up the capture operation. After several attempts to take the leopard into the trap cage, the rescue team finally got an opportunity to dart the leopard in the afternoon by making holes in the glass partition. The leopard was successfully tranquilized and shifted to a transport cage and taken to the zoo for recovery from tranquilizing drugs and a thorough medical checkup. The animal was found to be a male leopard, aged four to five years, an official statement from the Forest Department said.

“After medical examination and certification by the Deputy Director, NZP, the leopard will be trans-located to Amrabad Tiger Reserve and released in the Mannanur Range where a suitable habitat for the leopard has been identified,” the statement said.

Since the industry is located close to the forest area, the movement of leopards was reported around the industry earlier too. Security staff at the unit had noticed a leopard in the CCTV footage during the last week of April as well.