Mangaluru :   A leopard which  chased a dog at Kaikamba in Bilinele village in Kadaba taluk, eventually got locked up inside the toilet of a house on February 3,  Wednesday morning.

The dog survived unscathed a night in the company of a leopard after both were trapped inside a toilet.

The leopard spent more than 10 hours with the dog after it was locked in a toilet located outside the house of Late Venkappa Gowda of Moolemane in Kaikamba of Bilinele village, Kadaba taluk in Dakshina Kannada district. Despite the forest officials making all preparations to nab the leopard, it escaped into the forest by breaking the asbestos sheet that acted as the toilet ceiling.

The house is located adjacent to the Kombaru Reserve forest of Subrahmanya Range. The leopard may have entered human habitation chasing the dog and the dog took shelter in the toilet with the leopard also probably following it. On Wednesday morning, when a family member saw the tail of the leopard through the door, she immediately informed the forest officials after locking the fibre door from outside.

A team of forest officials rushed to the spot Immediately and on examining the area realised that the position to capture the animal was weak. It was also going to be a risky operation because an asbestos sheet was just placed on the top without attaching it to a rod or fixing it securely. For a 100 kg leopard, escaping through it is certainly not an impossible task, especially because the toilet room was only three feet wide and four feet in length and the height was also about 4.5 feet. Despite that, two layers of nets were laid on the ceiling and the officials on the spot had obtained the necessary permission to dart the animal,  It is said.

Fortunately, there was no injury caused to the dog or anyone in the house. The leopard is below five years of age and weighing 80-100kg. “ The forest department will watch the area closely for the next 15 days and leopard capturing cages have been placed in various areas as suggested by the public.”

The joint operation was conducted by the forest officials of the Subrahmanya and Panja range in the presence of Subrahmanya sub division ACF Austin P Soans, Panja Range Officer Manjunath, Belthangady Range Officer Tyagaraj, Subrahmanya RFO Raghavendra, police, NGOs and the public. For the public, the dog was the hero, it managed to stay alive despite being with the leopard.