Authorities in India have finally caught a marauding leopard, which had moved into a former tanker at a shipbreaking yard in India and lived off dogs, according to press reports.
The wild animal had reportedly been living onboard the King Kong 1 (ex-Conkouati, built 1973), which had operated previously as a floating production, storage and offloading unit in the Republic of Congo for oil and gas producer Perenco.
The leopard was first spotted by a watchman at the site — plot number 153 at the Navyug yard in Alang — on the night of 25 April, and is thought to have lived there for around three weeks.
Forestry officials from the local Rajkot district reportedly placed a cage with bait on the tanker’s gangway, but the animal ignored it and evaded capture.
Finally, after a week of playing (big) cat and mouse, the leopard was tranquilised and rescued by forestry officials for release back into the wild after a short period of observation.
When officials searched the leopard’s den onboard the tanker, they found the remains of several dogs.
It is thought the big cat hunted for strays at night on Alang’s 15 km (9 miles) of beaches and brought its prey home.
The cat had been living in a small, dark compartment of the partially broken vessel, which rescuers could not enter without putting themselves at risk.
The shipbreaking yards at Alang, usually bustling with thousands of workers, have been deserted due to the public lockdown in India.
It has been speculated that this is what led to the leopard moving into the area.
Since the Covid-19 pandemic took hold, the world’s press has been full of stories about nature "taking back" cities, ports and outdoor spaces after humans have retreated into lockdown.
However, the leopard appears to be one of the true stories.
Dolphins spotted in Venice turned out to have been filmed on the island of Sardinia in the Mediterranean, according to reports that fact-checked the footage.
Likewise, news that a group of elephants had sauntered through a village in Yunnan, China, got drunk on corn wine and passed out in a tea garden were debunked by Chinese media.
