Mahadenamutta and trapped leopard up a tree

We all watched this wildlife drama with horror and fascination. A snared leopard caught in a death trap, struggling for life dragging the snare up a tree. There were about 100 people, at the foot of the tree watching his torment.Many us were a remote, horrified audience watching the drama on TV waiting for a wildlife official to save this animal from its agony. Then someone does arrive and you could see the relief on the faces of those on the ground .

This man (presumably from the wildlife department) to everyone’s surprise, takes an axe and with two fell strokes brings the tree down, trapped leopard and all. The animal hits the ground hard and dies. We lose both the tree and the leopard.

Surely our wildlife officials are familiar with tranquilizer guns with which wild animals can be sedated. Couldn’t he have saved this animal by using such a devise? The leopard could have been tranquilized from a distance, lowered to safety and released from the trap. Of course that would have been a complex maneuver but worth the effort to save this magnificent animal.I’m only a wildlife enthusiast and no expert. So my assumption could be wrong. I can only think that this was truly a Mahadenamutta solution.

Padmini Nanayakkara,Colombo-3.