Leopards Get Caught By Ringtones In India
Have you ever heard of ringtones used as a bait to trap animals? Now, animal ringtones are being used in India to lure leopards into traps or cages so that they can be caught without being harmed or injured. Ringtones of cows mooing, goats bleating and roosters crowing are used to attract leopards that have wandered into human settlements in India.
In Gujarat, these animals often roam into villages near forests in search of food, which may result in attacks on people. Previously, method such as live bait like goats tied to tress to lure the leopards, which then fall into large pits dug by guards, could injure these animals due to the fall. Therefore, a safer method which is to make use of ringtones is being used to trap these cats.
“The moos of a cow, bleating of a goat from the phone has proved effective to trap leopards,” said D. Vasani, a senior forest official in Gujarat. “This trick works.” Vasani said forest guards have downloaded the sounds of over a dozen animals as ringtones on their mobiles which they attach to speakers and fix behind a cage. They then play the ringtone continuously for up to two hours until the curious leopard appears and moves into the cage looking for its easy meal. Five leopards have so far been lured from villages since the new ringtone method was introduced a month ago. The cats have all been released back into forest areas.
Wildlife activists welcomed the new initiative saying that previous methods of trapping the cats using pits often resulted in the animals getting injured.
Popularity: 4% [?]