Leopard elusive after 24-hr search

The Mylardevpalli leopard which eluded capture on Thursday from its hideout in an abandoned farm close to the Katedan underpass, has for all practical purposes, disappeared from the area.

Officials of the forest department said on Friday that they had tracked the leopard to a small lake next to Prof Jayashankar

Agricultural University from where it may have headed towards the Chilkuru forests.

The leopard was found resting in the middle of the road close to the Katedan underpass on Thursday.

The crowds that gathered to see the animal and the noise, made it run off, and jump over a wall into a nearby abandoned farm.

Forest department personnel, who had come armed with equipment to tranquilise the leopard so as to move it to the Nehru Zoological Park, found it had escaped into an adjacent farm. “We took the assistance of a police sniffer dog to track the leopard,” said an official of the forest department.

Camera traps were also installed on Thursday, but on Friday, none of the 20odd camera traps yielded any images of the leopard. A search by forest department officials found a set of pug marks of the leopard. “Now we

A SEARCH by forest department officials found a set of pug marks of the leopard.

know it has moved out towards the agriculture university and possibly towards Chilkuru reserve forest area,” an official said.

“It could have strayed into the Katedan area possibly in search of food. Though we find it has moved away from its Thursday location, we urge people in the area to remain vigilant,” Mr A. Shankaran, a senior forest department official, told Deccan Chronicle.