Dog-terrorising leopard caught

July 04 2008 at 05:03PM

A male leopard was captured in Makoko near Nelspruit on Friday, the Mpumalanga tourism and parks agency said.

Spokesperson Jimmy Masombuka said the agency received information from the community who had been terrorised by the animal.

The leopard killed nine dogs at different houses in the area.

A team from the agency set up a cage trap for the animal and found the animal trapped in the cage when they arrived on Friday morning.

The animal had the remains of a snare around its neck which had caused serious injury to the animal.

Masombuka said it was believed the community might have tried to capture the leopard using a snare but that the animal had proven too powerful for it.

The leopard was darted and taken to a veterinary surgeon in Skukuza for treatment and tuberculosis tests.

If the leopard was found to have TB it would be euthanised.

If the leopard was free of TB, it would be taken to one of the agency's protected areas, far from the community and released, said Masombuka. - Sapa