Incidents of wild animals being spotted in residential areas inside populated cities haven't been new amid COVID-19 lockdown across India. A leopard was spotted in Natipora area of Srinagar on Saturday night, soon after creating a sense of panic among locals. Announcements using mosque loudspeakers were made to alert residents about the leopard on prowl in Har Namal locality.
The Wildlife Department was notified of the presence of the big cat in the locality at around 10:30 p.m., and a team of eight officials rushed to the area. However, Chief Wildlife Warden Kashmir, Rashid Naqash said the presence of the leopard in the area has not been ascertained in the area.
Wildlife officials canvassing area
"But majority of the claims turn out to be false or just an assumption made by the locals," Naqash said, adding that the department has been getting several SOS calls from Srinagar areas about big cat spotting.
Naqash further added that the presence of leopard was established on the basis of tracks, pug marks and scats. The police even acted swiftly to notify people not to venture out unnecessarily to avoid getting hurt by the animal.
The wildlife warden, however, said that "since areas like Natipora, Humhama, Chanapora, Sant Nagar are located within less than 10 km from the Srinagar International Airport, which is situated on a Karewa with many vegetal belts in between, there always remains a possibility of the leopards straying into these areas".
Two weeks ago, a minor girl was mauled by a leopard in the Humhama area after which the animal was declared as a man-eater and professional hunters were employed to eliminate it.
