Two leopards were trapped in cages in two tea estates in Alipurduar and Jalpaiguri districts on Thursday.

Workers of the Dalgaon tea estate in Alipurduar had been seeing a leopard at the plantations for a few days. This led to panic in the garden, prompting the management to contact the state forest department.

The department set up a cage at the plantations. This morning, workers heard growling and found that the animal – an adult male leopard – had walked into the cage. Foresters, who were informed, rescued it soon.

Another leopard was trapped at the Kanthaldhura tea estate in the Nagrakata block of Jalpaiguri district on Thursday.

A leopard had strayed into the tea garden and was taking away cattle and poultry for a while. The workers and their families then approached the forest department.

Foresters of the Khunia forest range laid a cage with bait in the garden.

This morning, the leopard walked into the cage. Later in the day, foresters took it away to the nature interpretation centre in Lataguri. The leopard will be kept under observation and then released in the wild, said a forest official.