A male leopard aged around 10 was successfully captured by a team of Forest Department personnel on Tuesday afternoon at Naganahalli village in Kunigal taluk in Tumkur district.

The leopard entered a house of a carpenter, Mruthyunjaya. Mruthyunjaya heard his dog barking and opened the door to see when the leopard entered the house. His family then locked the door from outside and called the Forest Department.

The leopard had killed the family’s sheep and left the dog injured in front of the house. Assistant Conservator of Forest and in-charge Deputy Conservator of Forest D. Devaraj, Range Forest Officer Chinnappa and staff rushed to the village.

Circle Inspector of Police Dharmendra and his staff had to control a large number of people who had gathered in front of the house to see what was happening.

A team of experts, headed by Chettiappa, arrived from Bannerghatta National Park, Bangalore.

The personnel then removed the roof tiles to locate the animal. They drilled a hole in the door and fired darts to tranquilise the leopard. They captured the sedated animal and then sent to Muthathi forest in Mandya district.

Mr. Devaraj told The Hindu, “the leopard might have come in search of food and accidentally entered the house.”

The operation lasted two-and-a-half hours.