Leopard spotted in Sainik Farms area in Delhi

The area is close to the Southern Ridge, a forest, which also comprises the Asola Bhatti Wildlife Sanctuary

A leopard was spotted in a residential part of Sainik Farms in south Delhi on Friday night and Saturday morning, forest department officials aware of the matter said.

A videograb of the leopard. (HT Photo)

The area is close to the Southern Ridge, a forest, which also comprises the Asola Bhatti Wildlife Sanctuary.

Forest officials said teams with more than 40 personnel were deployed to the area on Saturday morning, with two cages set up to trap the animal. Though the officials spotted the leopard at least twice, they were unable to capture it.

At least two videos of the leopard which were recorded by residents emerged online. In one video shot from inside a car, the leopard was seen walking in a narrow residential lane ahead of the vehicle, before entering a dark alley. In the second video, the animal was seen jumping from a wall to cross the road and a man was seen running away.

Both videos were shot on Friday night.

Forest officials said they received the first complaint about the animal at 6.30am on Saturday, and teams immediately rushed to the spot and carried out a search operation till 9.30am. “The leopard was sighted by our officials also but it went into hiding. We have cordoned off the area and set up traps. The teams with 15 officials will stay in the area overnight and try to rescue the animal if it appears again. However, we are hoping that it will return to the forest area at night,” said Mandeep Mittal, deputy conservator of forest (south division).

Mittal said the forest department teams are equipped with dart guns, nets and other equipment required to tranquillise the big cat for its safe rescue.

Officials added that pug marks have also been recorded and while it appears to be a full-grown male, the age and gender of the leopard have not been established yet.

According to a study by the forest department, there are at least eight leopards in the Asola Bhatti Wildlife Sanctuary, and two cubs were spotted earlier this year.