Keep off: The leopard caught in Naxalbari on Monday snarls inside its cage. A Telegraph picture

Siliguri, June 25: An owl and a python were rescued from the town and its suburbs this morning. They have been kept at the forest department’s animal rescue centre at Sukna.

While the python was rescued from the army base at Salugara, located about 4 km from Siliguri, the owl was spotted in the Saradapally area of the town.

Members of the Himalayan Nature and Adventure Foundation (Hnaf) received a phone call from Kalyan Mitra, a resident of Saradapally, this morning. “He told us that an owl had been attacked by a bunch of crows and it was trying to take shelter at his residence,” said Animesh Bose, the founder-coordinator of Hnaf. “Our members rushed to the spot and rescued it. We informed forest officials at Sukna and handed over the bird to them this afternoon.”

Bose said this is the 10th owl rescued by Hnaf this year.

“Today’s was a barred owl, the second one we have rescued this year,” he added. “The other eight were barn owls, which were also handed over to foresters.”

At Salugara, army officials found a 6-ft-long python inside a dispensary. “They cornered the python and informed us. Our men went there and took it out,” said Sumita Ghatak, the Darjeeling divisional forest officer (wildlife 1).