Leopard enters Indian school and injures five people before capture

Big cat wanders into grounds of school in Bangalore before being shot with tranquilliser dart

Agence France-Presse in Bangalore

Monday 8 February 2016 13.02 GMT

Last modified on Monday 8 February 201622.01 GMT

Five people have been injured during an attempt to capture a leopard that wandered into a school in southern India, a wildlife official has said.

Photos of the incident in Bangalore show the animal prowling around the closed school and trying to maul forestry officials as well as a wildlife activist and others who came too close.

Ravi Ralph, chief wildlife officer in Karnataka state, said the leopard appeared to have entered the school from a nearby forest by jumping over the compound’s wall.

The animal is seen attacking a man lying on the ground who uses his hand to defend himself. The cat is also shown sinking its claws into another man’s leg as he tries to climb a gate.

“The leopard was caught and caged after a four-hour operation, when it was trapped in a room with one tranquilliser shot through a wire-meshed ventilator,” Ralph said.

Watch video and read on ...

Snakes Feast on Garbage City’s Rats (Bangalore India) – via Herp Digest

Times of India, New Delhi, 11/7/12 

Bangalore (TNN):  After rats, it's snakes. Bangalore's growing rat colonies among the garbage piles are luring snakes which feed on them.

The sudden appearance of the reptiles in some residential areas has sparked off an alarm in a city struggling to deal with diseases spawned by garbage.

The BBMP control room registered a marked increase in complaints about the appearance of snakes.

"We usually get about 15-20 calls a month from residential areas to capture snakes. Now we get at least three complaints a day from across the city," said a control room official.

A few days ago, Sharat Babu, an environmental adviser with the BBMP's environment cell, rescued a red sand boa in Vyalikaval. On Tuesday, the BBMP received a call from residents of Police Quarters, Marappana Palya, Malahakshmi Layout, that a snake had been sighted.

"Around 9am, women from our quarters spotted a snake moving around. We called the BBMP control room, which gave us a snake-catcher's number. It wasn't of much help," said Chenna Byregowda, a driver who lives in Marappana Palya.

Byregowda said this was the first time a snake had been sighted here. "I don't know what the cause is, but there's a sudden increase in rodents in our area." He confirmed that waste collection is irregular, and there's a huge garbage heap next to the quarters.

The failure to dispose of solid waste effectively has led to a new problem: snakes in the city. BBMP claims its control room receives two or three complaints a day about snakes being sighted. BBMP's role is limited: it provides phone numbers of snakecatchers and there ends the issue. "Ideally, snake-catchers should report to us, but they don't do so regularly . We don't have a record of what happened to the complaints received," a control room official pointed out.

According to Sharat Babu, environmental adviser with the BBMP's environment cell, rats attract snakes which feed on them. "Rodents mate only when they find enough food around. They appear wherever there are garbage heaps and multiply," he added.

Ten months ago, a pourakarmika found a box in a garbage heap in Yelahanka and opened it to find a 9-foot long python in it. Ironically , rats also render snakes impossible to catch. "If a snake enters a rat hole, it's not easy to catch it. At times, rat holes span a length of around 0.5km," said Deepak Reddy , who works with the BBMP wildlife rescue team.

Rare bird, snake rescued in city

BANGALORE: BBMP’s forest officials and paramedical staff have rescued rare species of Albino Rat Snake and Night Heron from two different parts of the city.

A paramedical centre was set up by the BBMP’s forest department last year to educate citizens to cooperate and inform officials if animals and birds were found in precarious condition or any other state which needs attention of the experts.

On Saturday, an employee of the centre received two different calls.

One was from Kalisipalayam scrap market. Idris Pasha, a scrap shop owner, found a yellow snake moving when he was clearing debris in his shop and immediately, he informed the BBMP officials.

“We normally get calls from this area, when snakes are found, but before our arrival people kill it out of fear. But Idris Pasha was intelligent enough. He did not inform others, thinking public attention may harm the reptile,” BBMP’s wild life warden Sharat Babu said.

He further said, “We have rescued a rare specious of Rat Snake. In my fifteen years’ career, this is the first time I have come across an Albino Rat Snake in Bangalore. We also rescued a rare bird ‘Night Heron’ from K P Agrahara on Magadi Road.”

He added, “Both creatures are doing well. We will keep them in rehabilitation centre and they will be released in conducive habitats. We are happy that people are getting our message and helping us protect the species before it is too late.”

The Heron rescuer Sriram, a wildlife activist and a BBMP volunteer, picked up the adult bird from a road in K P Agrahara. The bird has become rare in places like Bangalore and mostly found in Ranganathittu near Srirangapatna.

Wildlife activist Sriram spoke about the bird he rescued and said, “The bird will be released in Lalbagh lake once it is properly rehabilitated. These types of birds and snakes were commonly found in Bangalore few years ago, but they migrated and became rare due to rapid construction activities and shrinking of urban forest and lakes.”


http://expressbuzz.com/cities/bangalore/rare-bird-snake-rescued-in-city/387138.html