THE JHARKHAND STORY NETWORK
Daltonganj, March 22: Palamu Tiger Reserve (PTR) has sent a quick response team vehicle and a rescue van to Adityapur, where a leopard has kept the forest officials and residents on tenterhooks over the last few days.
P K Jena, deputy director of North Division PTR, said, “The quick response team vehicle and rescue van have been given to the PTR by the ICICI bank under its Corporate Social Responsibility.”
“We have dispatched these two to Adityapur with a stopover at Ranchi, where our head of the forest force, Sanjay Srivastav and principal secretary of forest, environment and climate change, Vandana Dadel, flagged it off for Adityapur,” said Jena.
“Apart from these two vehicles and a van, we have sent two biologists, one vet doctor and a couple of PTR personnel to Adityapur. Our men and machine have reached Adityapur and it is on the job,” added Jena.
Pug marks of the leopard have been discovered.
Jena said,, “Our team will be putting a goat or dog inside the rescue van just to lure and tempt the wayward leopard to walk in.”
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He said, “Leopards are pretty wise. They understand the pre-recorded sounds of goats and dogs and avoid walking in. Hence, we will be having their live goat/dog.”
When asked if the quick response team vehicle and rescue van are camouflaged to give them a semblance of jungles, bushes, etc., Jena said, “We decided not to have a total camouflage to it. It has its own issues.”
This is the first major intervention of the PTR in rescuing or containing a stressed leopard that has sneaked into the industrial area of Adityapur.
Earlier, the PTR team had rushed to Hazaribag when the tiger was sighted there.
Jena said, “It’s all teamwork. Our chief conservator of forests and field director, PTR Kumar Ashutosh, is too concerned about wildlife. We are making a concerted effort to save wildlife if found in any awkward situation like this leopard in the industrial hub Adityapur.”
When asked how he managed to have these two machines, vehicle and van from the ICICI bank, Jena said, ” I was pursuing and chasing it over the last 1 year. PTR is grateful to the ICICI bank for giving a quick response team vehicle and rescue van.”
