Hyderabad: A fortnight on, elusive leopard spotted again

Hyderabad: The leopard that escaped from Katedan area in Rajendranagar a fortnight ago was spotted at the Agriculture University, thanks to the CCTV footage. Teams of forest and police department have been on the lookout for the feline for a fortnight.

Forest Range Officer (Shamshabad) Vikram Chandra said, "On Thursday night, the wild cat was spotted at Gagan Pahad Forest area which is full of wildlife.

Beside the reserve forest zone, that is spread over 100 hectares of area, there also exists a vast green expanse at Agriculture University, NIRD and National Police Academy Firing Range of around 300 to 400 hectares together, full of vegetation along with abundant water resources."

Officials say that there is nothing to worry about as the wild cat retreated into the forest area far away from the human habitation.

According to preliminary assessment, he added, it was established that the leopard might have been staying there for a long time.

Presently, there are four teams – two each from Forest and Police department, deployed in the area under the supervision of District Forest Office Rangareddy District Bheema Nayak and FDO Shamshabad Shivaiah.

20 cameras set up

Each team consists of five officials from both the departments. "The rescue teams frisked the area even today morning in order to trace out the leopard's movement. Besides, we are also using 20 cameras to track the wild cats' movement.

Attempts to catch the wild cat yielded no result as the leopard eludes rescue teams even though they have placed snares with goat meat at several locations.

Earlier, the cat was seen drinking water at a pond near Himayat Sagar area close to the vegetation of Agriculture University only to disappear later.

On Thursday night, the wild cat was spotted at Gagan Pahad Forest area which is full of wildlife. Beside the reserve forest zone, that is spread over 100 hectares of area, there also exists a vast green expanse at Agriculture University, NIRD and National Police Academy Firing Range of around 300 to 400 hectares together, full of vegetation along with abundant water resources

– Forest Range Officer (Shamshabad) Vikram Chandra