Udupi: Hours after the forest department set up a trap for a leopardess that had been spotted at Pambur in Belle village, the animal was trapped on Thursday.

A cage had been set up to trap the leopardess, on Wednesday evening, near the shrubs, where a localite had seen it some four days ago. In order to lure the leopardess into the cage, the officials had placed a dog in a different compartment in the cage.

The leopardess, who came in search of the prey got trapped in the cage at night. Later in the morning, the department got a call stating that the animal had been trapped in the cage. The officials arrived here and shifted the cage to Range Forest Office here where the leopardess was examined by a veterinarian before being released in the forests of the Western Ghats on Thursday.