Tale of panic, trail of questions after ‘spotted guest’ gatecrashes wedding in Lucknow
The leopard was caught and tranquillised after five hours of efforts around 2.45am and later released into the wild; weight of the big cat (over 70 kg) suggests it was full grown and lived in a forest with ample prey base
LUCKNOW A wedding on Buddheshwar road in Lucknow’s Para area had an uninvited guest on Wednesday night. An 8-year-old leopard, which strayed into the marriage lawn around 9pm, left guests in panic, the bride and groom stranded in a car for hours and a forest official injured. The big cat was caught and tranquillised after five hours of efforts around 2.45am and later released into the wild. But the incident left a trail of questions like - where did the animal come from and why it entered this place.
“There’s a strong possibility that it (leopard) strayed from some nearby district’s buffer zone. This is because the city is expanding with human habitat encroaching the surrounding forests,” said Sitanshu Pandey, divisional forest officer, Awadh Range.
He said there are forest pockets in Bakshi Ka Talab (BKT), and the route ahead connects to Lakhimpur, hence the possibility of the leopard coming from Dudhwa National Park (DNP) cannot be ruled out.
Due to depleting forests, there are more chances of wandering wild cats being visible, and in this case, the animal could be from DNP. “Travelling 25 kms in a day is nothing for a leopard. In a week, it can reach Lucknow from DNP that is around 238 km away. Getting a clear idea from where it came is a bit tricky,” said Pandey.
The weight of the leopard (over 70 kg) suggests that it was full grown and lived in a forest with ample prey base.
A tiger corridor connects Lucknow to tiger habitats in Lakhimpur Kheri, Shahjahanpur, and Hardoi. The corridor runs along the Sharda Canal. While tigers have just one route towards Lucknow, leopards have several, including Unnao-Malesemau, Dubagga via River Gomti, and around Scooters India. Camera traps have recorded leopards once a week on an average in 2021-22, with a major share of pictures from Chinhat that is connected to Malesmau via Shaheed Path.
On December 25, 2021, a leopard was rescued from densly populated Jankipuram where it attacked a few men while on November 16, 2023, a two-year old leopard died in a road accident on Shaheed Path, which is close to Malesmau. Earlier on February 18, 2018, a leopard was shot dead by a cop in Aurangabad Khalsa area under Ashiana police area, after two days of the animal’s stay in the vicinity roaming from one lane to another, spreading panic.
The leopard chase on Wednesday night was inside a closed boundary of the marriage lawn where the animal had got stuck on the second floor outside the store room. “Thermal drones confirmed the presence of the animal, following which the tranquilising teams conducted a successful operation,” said Sitanshu Pandey.
The big cat was left in the Sonaripur forest range in DNP. The rescue team included Chandan Chaudhary, sub-divisional forest officer, Mohanlalganj; Dr RK Singh, Dr Katiyar, and Dr Dayashankar. In the past few years, the state capital has also witnessed tiger sightings. At present, a tiger is wandering in a forest in Rehmankheda since December 10 and forest officials are making efforts to rescue the wild cat.
CELEBRATION GOES ‘WILD’
*AROUND 9PM The leopard entered a marriage lawn on Buddheshwar road, creating panic among guests who frantically started running to save their lives, eyewitnesses said.
* Even the bride and groom ran off and locked themselves in a car, they said.
* In a video purportedly of the incident, the leopard could be seen snatching an official’s weapon as he tried to overpower the animal.
* A forest department official sustained injuries in his hand while trying to catch the leopard, police said.
* AROUND 2.45AM Police and the forest department officials reached the spot. The leopard was caught and tranquillized after hours of efforts.