Udupi: The Forest Department staff at Pambur in the Belle village caught a four-year-old female leopard that had been spotted in the area and later released it in the Western Ghats forest on Thursday, September 20.
Monica Mathias, a resident of the area, had spotted the leopard near some shrubs four days ago, after which she alerted the Udupi Range Forest Office.
The department officials placed a cage with a dog as bait in an adjacent cage near the shrubs on Wednesday. Once the leopard was trapped, the officials moved to the cage to the Udupi Range Forest office for the leopard to be examined. After the animal was declared healthy by a veterinarian, the officials released the animal into the Western Ghat forests.
