A leopard that strayed into the Hetero Pharmaceuticals Limited facility in Sangareddy district's Gadda Potharam industrial area was captured by zoo officials. The leopard is reported to have entered the plant on December 16, Friday night and was spotted by security staff who immediately alerted the police and forest officials.
According to zoo officials, the captured leopard is a male aged around five to six years. It took around four hours for the 10-member team from the Hyderabad Nehru Zoological Park to capture the leopard by using the chemical immobilisation technique.
The forest personnel moved the immobile leopard into a cage and then shifted it to the Hyderabad zoo. Speaking to TNM, an official from Nehru Zoological Park said the leopard has been placed under observation. “A 10-member team, headed by MA Hakeem, Deputy Director, Veterinary, reached the Hetero factory by around 10 am this morning. The leopard was captured by chemical immobilisation. The leopard is under observation and will be released into the wild when fit and fine, as and when directed by the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests.”
As the operation took a few hours to complete, crowds gathered in large numbers to witness the rare sight. Addressing the media, a manager at the pharma facility said, “Despite the risk, our staff went ahead and locked the leopard inside the building where it had entered. The structure that the leopard entered isn’t presently in use and hence it was a deserted spot making it a peaceful location for the leopard. Had it been a crowded place, the leopard wouldn’t have entered the area.”
In April this year, CCTV had captured a leopard entering the Hetero facility. In November, a leopard reportedly attacked two cattle near the Hetero facility in Narsapur mandal.