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Aiel · Member Joined: 19 Dec 2006 Posts: 927 Location: Bangalore

Leopards lured into traps by mobile call of the wild

Forestry officials in western India have started using ringtones of cows mooing, goats bleating and cocks crowing to catch big cats that have wandered into human settlements.

In an unusual example of old India meeting new, officials in the western state of Gujarat say that they have lured five leopards into cages using the sound of mobile phones ringing instead of the usual live bait.

For decades forestry officials have been catching errant leopards by using live goats, cows, sheep or chickens tied to trees to lure the cats into deep pits.

They then release them into the wild far from inhabited areas.

The officials downloaded the ringtones from the internet, attached their phones to loud-speakers behind the cages, and then repeatedly called the phones until the noise attracted the leopards.

Wildlife activists have welcomed the initiative as a more humane way to trap the cats, whose numbers have been declining in recent years because of poaching and human encroachment on their natural habitats. Poachers have killed at least 369 leopards over two years, according to rough numbers compiled by the Wildlife Protection Society of India.

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