Wayanad: A street dog that accidentally got caught in a cage set for a leopard managed to escape with ease, raising questions on the efficiency of such traps laid by the Forest Department. The dog escaped by creating a hole in the cage floor, made of wooden boards.

Visuals of the dog biting and breaking the wooden panels were widely circulated on social media, adding to the embarrassment of the Forest Department. 

The incident happened near Sulthan Bathery where the Forest Department had set up a cage near the house of Paul Mathews to capture a leopard that had become a habitual chicken thief. The cage was laid after Paul approached High Court complaining of inaction from the officials following multiple complaints. According to Paul, the leopard had taken away as many as seven hens on May 13 and four more on May 8.

Earlier, another street dog got trapped in the cage after attempting to prey on the chicken kept inside as bait. However, it was later released by the family.

In the latest incident, the dog got caught while attempting to prey on the chicken kept as bait in the cage on Tuesday. Paul Mathews decided to inform the Animal Birth Control Unit about the incident the following morning. However, when he later checked the cage, the dog was missing, and a hole was found in the wooden floor of the trap.

Paul said that he was shocked to see the cage empty. "Then I had searched the CCTV visuals and found how the animal had escaped. Again, I verified the cage and found the hole on the floor", he said. "If a mere street dog could easily escape from the cage, it would be much easier for the leopard", he added.

However, South Wayanad DFO Ajith K Raman said that the cage, exposed to monsoon rains for over a month, may have experienced structural weakness. "The base of the cage is made of plywood, and it’s natural for plywood to deteriorate in wet conditions", he said. 

The forest department later replaced the wooden board floor of the cage trap.