Bhopal: If you think that poaching has stopped completely in the Panna reserves, here is some startling information. After wiping out tigers from the sanctuary, poachers are now actively preying on the big cats that were translocated to the forests recently.

Their presence in the area came to light after a leopard got entangled in a trap that was allegedly laid for a tiger in an area close to the PTR. The trapped wild animal was tranqualised, rescued and sent to Van Vihar for further treatment by the forest staff. The leopard, officials say, would spend the rest of its life in captivity.

The Panna reserve is now a home to around 10 tigers, including three females and six cubs. One more tigress is being translocated from Kanha National Park next week. While wildlife activists fear threat to the translocated tigers citing the recent incident, the forest officials have dubbed the incident as handiwork of a farmer in Janakpur area.

"The trap was laid to save the crops from wild boars. It's not a case of poaching," said a forest official wishing anonymity. He said a case has been registered in this regard. But sources argued that traps lie the one discovered in Panna are used by poachers. "These traps are made of two-wheeler clutch wires. A clutch wire is a very cruel method used by poachers as it tightens and cuts through the flesh of the animal as it gets entangled.

The more the animal struggles, the more the noose tightens," said a retired forest official wishing not to be named.