Leopard prowling British embassy in Ethiopia, say officials

Oct 11, 2006 (ADDIS ABABA) — Wildlife experts are laying traps to capture a leopard prowling the British embassy compound in Ethiopia, officials said Wednesday.

The Ethiopian Wildlife Service was called in to snare the wild cat after it had eaten several domestic cats and rabbits on the 67-acre (27-hectare) forested estate in the capital, Addis Ababa.

“Our intention is to capture the leopard in a humane way at night,” said Fekadu Shiferaw, from the wildlife service.

“We do not use tranquilizers, so we will put out rotten meat to capture the leopard,” Fekadu said. Once captured the leopard would be released in the wild, he added.

Embassy spokeswoman Holly Tett said the leopard had been spotted by residents who live on the embassy compound, which has a nine-hole golf course, a swimming pool and horses grazing.

“The grounds are a haven for wildlife,” Tett said. “We have confirmed that the leopard has been seen and we are exploring several methods of catching it.”

“We have a range of options to protect the leopard because we feel we have a duty to do so, but we also have a duty to protect our staff,” she added.

(AP/ST)