Bokakhat, Assam, March 14, 2018: Personnel from the Eastern Assam Wildlife Division (EAWLD) and a Mobile Veterinary Service (MVS) team from CWRC – the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation; IFAW-WTI and the Assam Forest Department’s wildlife rescue, treatment and rehabilitation facility near Kaziranga National Park – rescued a sub-adult male leopard from a conflict situation in a joint operation conducted this morning in Bokakhat, a town in Assam’s Golaghat district.
The leopard was discovered inside a garage in the Swahid Kamala Miri Civil Hospital’s residential staff quarters. The MVS team responded promptly to an emergency call by Rohini Ballave Saikia, Divisional Forest Officer of the EAWLD, who led the rescue operation. The civil authorities under the Bokakhat Sub-divisional Officer and Sub-divisional Police Officer handled the assembled crowds commendably, keeping the core operational area clear and preventing any untoward incident. The MVS team chemically immobilised the leopard expeditiously.
“This was a quick and successful rescue operation. The situation was resolved without human or animal casualties”, said DFO Rohini Ballave Saikia.
“This was a quick and successful rescue operation”, said Mr Saikia. “I would like to thank the Bokakhat civil administration and the police department for their tremendous support in crowd management. We rarely witness such circumstances wherein a wild animal is spotted into the heart of a town and there is no conflict. Here, the situation was resolved without human or animal casualties.”
“We had to proceed with the utmost caution since the leopard was behind a bamboo barrier in the garage”, said MVS veterinarian Dr Samshul Ali, who darted the animal. “It was difficult to find a spot to dart it from without disturbing it.” Dr Ali was supported in the operation by CWRC veterinarian Dr Panjit Basumatary, Dr Debabrata Phukan, the Forest Veterinary Officer of Kaziranga National Park, and CWRC animal keepers Tarun Gogoi and Mahadeo Das.
The leopard was transported to CWRC, where it has regained consciousness and is under observation. The EAWLD has indicated that the animal will be released back to the wild soon.
