Leopard scare for farmer family in Tumkur - Times of India

TUMKUR: A farmer family in Naganahalli village, Tumkur, was shocked to see a wild visitor early on Tuesday. Baskarachari, the farmer, woke up around 1am hearing his dog bark and found a leopard on the house premises. The big cat had already killed two sheep from his herd of 50. A shocked Baskarachari opened the door to seek help from neighbours and in no time, the leopard entered the house. The panicked members of the family rushed out, locked the house from outside and informed forest officials. "When I saw the leopard, I didn't know what to do for two minutes. Then I opened the door slowly. My family members started shouting loudly and then the big cat entered the house," said Baskarachari. The leopard went hiding in a room. Forest officials entered the house and tranquilized the big cat with the help of experts from Bannerghatta National Park. The leopard, around 9 years old and 1.5 metres long, was later released in the Muttatthi forest. Regular visitor According to the villagers, the fully grown male leopard used to frequent the village, which is located 60 km from Tumkur city and close to Savanadurga forest area. There were complaints about missing sheep, goat and calves, while a few stray dogs too were reportedly preyed on by the leopard. Assistant conservator of forest Devaraju said it was easy to trap the leopard as it was inside the house. "If it is shifted to the nearby forest, then there is chance that it may come back. The species is highly adaptive and can survive in dense jungles, scrub forests and also fields preying on domestic animals," he explained. It is suspected that the predator strayed out of its habitat and adapted itself to the new envir onment. The leopard range in Tumkur includes the entire belt from Devarayana Durga forest to Savanadurga forest area. via Science - Google News http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNFIrEgkVxPquf51tV51x-YgEsF-lQ&url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bangalore/Leopard-scare-for-farmer-family-in-Tumkur/articleshow/20657580.cms

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