[FEL-L] Smooth Ringtones Lure Leopards

[BigCatSimba at aol.com]

Smooth mooove! Ringtones lure leopards
 
Guards in India use mooing, bleating cell phones to get cats into cages
 
 

Updated: 12:42 p.m. ET June 4, 2007

AHMEDABAD, India - Forest guards in western India are using cell phone with 
ringtones of cows mooing, goats bleating and roosters crowing to attract 
leopards that have wandered into human settlements, officials said Monday. 
The wild cats in the state of Gujarat often roam into villages near forests 
in search of food, say officials, adding that this results in attacks on 
people. 
But rather than use methods such as live bait like goats tied to trees to 
lure the leopards, which then fall into large pits dug by guards, officials say 
they have found a safer method to trap the 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 mobile phones, 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. 
Copyright 2007 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or 
redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written 
consent of Reuters.
 
_http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19030567/_ 
(http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19030567/) 

 



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