Hyderabad: Four rescue operations by zoo staff this year

Bahadurpura: Within five days of the reopening of Nehru Zoological Park, an elusive panther, which was giving sleepless nights to the residents of Rajendranagar and surrounding areas for almost six months, was caught on October 11 and safely released into the wild a week later. This was not the lone rescue operation carried out by the zoo authorities in the recent past. In the previous year, the rescue team had taken up six operations. In 2020 they took up four tasks that include one botched operation.

3 cats, a reptile too rescued

According to officials, during 2019-20 the zoo park team rescued three panther s, besides a jungle cat, a monkey and a sloth bear. This year from May to October three cats and a reptile were saved, while a panther succumbed to injuries.

Upon receiving a call on May 15 this year from the Golconda Fort area that a black panther is seen prowling, the team jumped into action under the supervision of Dr Syed Asadullah, veterinary assistant surgeon," recalls an official. With not much effort, the team was able to catch the unknown black cat roaming on a roof near Fateh Darwaza, which later turned out to be an Asian Palm Civet. The cat was rehabilitated in the National Zoo Park, New Delhi, relates the official, who was part of the operation.

Panther succumbs to injuries

Two weeks later, the team was given another tough task to catch a panther which was spotted in Rajapeta Thanda in Nalgonda district. The rescue operation took an ugly turn when the frightened panther managed to extricate from the trap and mauled two members even though it was shot three times with a tranquilizer. Later it succumbed to the injuries. On June 5, the team caught a rat snake from the residence of Surya Prakash Reddy, Additional Solicitor-General for South India.

A panther that was giving sleepless nights to people of Rajendranagar and the surrounding areas for almost six months was finally caught earlier this month. "The ferocious panther which mauled a person while escaping had partially eaten several animals in its praying spree was finally caught in the cage set up by the forest department on Walamtari campus, near the College of Veterinary Science, and was shifted to NZP," the official said.

On October 17, the panther was rehabilitated in the Amrabad Tiger Reserve area, in Nagarkurnool district. Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF), Telangana, R Sobha and Zoo Curator N Kshitija were the senior officials who took part in the rehabilitation programme.