Palakkad (Kerala): A leopard trapped in a barbed wire fence in a village on the edge of a forest died hours after it was sedated and rescued by wildlife officials in Kerala's Palakkad district on Wednesday.

The female leopard, estimated to be around four years old, was found entangled in a wire fence at the property of Unnikrishnan, a local resident, near Kollengode this morning.

Wildlife officials said the animal seemed healthy and active even after it was tranquilized with a dart by the department's Rapid Response Team (RRT) and shifted to a cage.

A senior forest official said no external injuries were found on the carcass of the big cat after its death, and hence internal injuries are suspected to be the cause of its sudden death.

However, this can be confirmed only after the post-mortem, which will be conducted on Thursday morning.

"The animal looked healthy...even after darting, it was active and growled at times. It was difficult for our personnel to transfer it to the cage even after tranquilizing it," he said.

The official also dismissed the question whether the effect of tranquilising led to the sudden death of the leopard.

"According to the vet, the dart did not hit the animal completely, and only a small amount of the drug went into its body. So there is no possibility," he explained.

The wildlife officer further said that they did not shift the animal to the rescue center immediately after darting and decided to keep it in a cage for a few hours with the intention of giving it maximum comfort.

But the animal gradually became weak and was later found dead in the cage, he said.

Local people said that the presence of leopards has been reported at this place and surrounding areas several times in recent months.



A large number of villagers gathered in the area to get a glimpse of the trapped leopard.