Leopards vulnerable to snare traps, ecologists warn

COLOMBO (News1st): Leopards are facing risks of being killed by snare traps set across their habitats, ecologists warn, days after a leopard died in Sri Lanka after being rescued from a tree. “Snare injuries could cause a lot of internal organ damage," Anjali Watson, Managing Trustee of Wilderness and Wildlife Conservation Trust (WWCT) - a Colombo based wildlife body told News1st. Watson noted that leopards, which are a vulnerable species on the IUCN Red List, are living in mixed habitats, increasing the risk of being exposed to snare traps. A snare trap is used to trap an animal around its neck or the body using a noose made usually by wire or a strong string. A leopard had died last week despite being rescued by wildlife officials after being trapped in a tree for over a day at an estate in Sri Lanka's central town of Maskeliya. “The field conditions, in this case, is extremely difficult due to the height and the way the leopard was wedged into the tree with snare wire," the managing trustee of the wildlife body said. A postmortem examination revealed that it had died due to internal bleeding, wildlife officials said.