The forest department in Belagavi on Friday said that it will use the “honey-trap” method to capture the leopard that has been on the loose for nearly a month, as all other measures have failed to trap the big cat in the border district of Karnataka, about 500 km from Bengaluru.
“The ‘Honey Trap’ method is usually used to hold or control Tuskers and male wild animals. Their ferocity and restlessness come down when they smell female scents,” Anthony Mariyappa, the deputy conservator of forest, said on Friday.
One of the methods is to strategically leave a female animal in a controlled environment to attract the male or spray its urine in an area and wait for the male to catch the scent and trap it.
The move comes after authorities failed in at least two previous attempts to catch the leopard, which attacked one construction worker on August 5 in Jadhav Nagar and was again seen on a camera trap near the Golf course on August 22, HT reported.
The forest officials believe the leopard on the loose is male and are trying this method to extract the elusive big cat, which has struck fear in the local communities since its first attack almost a month ago.
Several schools and other places adjoining the Golf Course have remained shut for nearly a month as forest department officials with locals continue their search.
The forest department has also pressed into service pig catchers and nets used to trap smaller animals, which led to their first failed attempt on August 5.
There are two adult male and female leopards, each in Bhutaramanahatti Wildlife Century in Belagavi. The wildlife experts told the department that the leopard in Belagavi, if it is male, will not leave the place if the urinated mud of the female leopard is placed on the Golf Course, which could help to capture it.
Unsure about the gender of the leopard, the department said that it would continue as planned to bring a female as all other avenues fade, and the rescue operations face more ridicule on social media.
They added that the process will be reversed if the leopard is male.
Assistant conservator of forest, Mallinath Kusanal, who has carried out such methods successfully on many occasions, said this would involve placing the urinated mud of the female animal to capture the male. “Tuskers can be easily controlled over the method. However, wild animals like leopards would not easily land into such traps,” he said.
Over 10,000 students of 22 schools near the golf course have been impacted as educational institutions have been ordered to remain closed until the animal is trapped.
