A 17-year-old male leopard perished as water spilt into Tata Steel Zoological Park following 24 hours of nonstop rain and a flood-like condition in Jamshedpur, Jharkhand.
According to a press release from Tata Steel on Sunday, the water penetrated the zoo’s low-lying regions, particularly the area next to the leopard cage and this led to the terrible tragedy. The leopards Mithun (male) and Hema (female) were both released on Saturday to the exhibition area after eating, as per custom and safety standards, so they could climb a tree or choose another safer site if the water level rose.
A boat-mounted rescue squad arrived at the scene to maintain watch and verify that safety precautions were taken. Around 7.30 pm, Hema scaled a tree while Mithun was swimming and struggling (due to advancing age) to perch on an appropriate spot. After over an hour, the rescue crew was unable to find Mithun. They located Mithun’s body at roughly 9.30 pm on Saturday.
Mithun was born in August 2005 and transported from the Jaldapara Rescue Center in West Bengal to the Tata Steel Zoological Park in Jamshedpur in November 2007. The female leopard Hema is now safe and will be monitored for the next 24 hours.
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