A leopard, which entered the government school, Nanta Mahal, in Rajasthan’s Kota a week ago, continues to live inside the old building. A team from Ranthambore National Park (RNP) reached Kota on Tuesday in order to tranquilise and rescue the leopard. However, the efforts made by the team remained futile as they were not able to spot the leopard till night. "The team will continue monitoring even at night and personnel will be deployed outside the building," Times of India quoted a staff member as saying.
The forest team had installed trap cameras in order to record the leopard’s movement and has also put up cages. The decision to tranquilise the leopard was taken after the team was unable to trap the animal.
"The location of the cages was changed. But the leopard is a shy and intelligent animal and did not enter. Now, the only option is to dart and safely rescue the animal," a staff member was quoted by TOI as saying. Staff members further alleged that locals are also disturbing the animal and the team to carry out the rescue operation, TOI reported.
"The neighboring houses are playing loud music so that leopard does not enter their premises. This is disturbing the wild cat and not allowing it to settle quietly. If the area was silent, the operation could have been easily carried out." In the meantime, the school administration is holding classes for children at community centers.