In a 10 hour long joint operation carried out by Wildlife SOS & the Uttar Pradesh Forest Department, an adult male leopard was rescued from Govardhan, Mathura district.

The leopard was later released in the Shivalik forest range in Saharanpur.

On Monday morning, residents of Govardhan, Mathura were left fearing for their lives after they spotted a leopard roaming, right in the middle of town.

The big cat later decided to take shelter in a culvert.

The incident was immediately reported to the Forest Department and Agra based NGO Wildlife SOS, and requested the deployment of a rapid response unit to avert a human wildlife conflict situation.

Equipping themselves with safety nets, a trap cage and Personal protective equipment ((PPE) to carry out the rescue mission, an eight-member team from Wildlife SOS immediately headed to the location accompanied by a team of forest officers.

Operations like this can be quite nerve-racking as the team has to exercise caution while approaching such a large and powerful feline.

They decided to follow a more careful approach by using food bait to lure it into a trap cage.

Rescue operations involving leopards can be dangerous and need careful planning in order to ensure the safety of the animal as well as of the people.

After a nearly ten hour-long wait, the leopard finally walked into one of the cages.”

The leopard was carefully transferred to Saharanpur by the Forest Department and Wildlife SOS team, where it was released in the Shivalik forest range on Tuesday morning.

This often leads to human-leopard conflicts which have violent and brutal consequences for both humans and wildlife. Wildlife SOS works closely with the Forest Dept. to carry out various rescue operations across the state.”

DFO, Mathura, said , “ As soon as we received information about the leopard we deployed our team of forest officers for the location.

We also requested Etawah Lion safari and Wildlife SOS teams to reach the spot along with their respective trap cages for the rescue operation.

We are grateful to the Wildlife SOS team for their expert assistance.”

While the world has come to a complete standstill due to the Coronavirus outbreak, nature seems to be reclaiming her territory.

All around the world, there have been reported incidents of wild animals venturing into cities as pollution levels have decreased, public spaces are lying deserted and human encounters have reduced.

Wildlife SOS is continuing to work round the clock to provide essential service and protect the community and wildlife in distress, amidst the nationwide lockdown.