Representative image of a leopard.
Credit: DH Photo
Jaipur: Tourists in a heritage hotel here were pleasantly surprised to see a leopard roaming on the premises this morning.
The leopard, which perhaps strayed into Castle Kanota, a heritage hotel on Agra Road, was spotted by the tourists when pet dogs in the hotel started barking. The tourists alarmed the hotel staff, who in turn informed the forest and wildlife department.
The sprawling hotel, built in 1872 by the then Thakur of Kanota, Zorawar Singh, who was also a minister in the government of Jaipur, is located around 15 km east of the city of Jaipur on the Jaipur-Agra highway road. Being an old castle, it has lots of open space and fruit orchards as well, which perhaps attracted the big cat.
The tourists were evacuated and taken away to a safe place. The leopard meanwhile entered one of the staff quarters and scattered all the things in the room. Quick thinking by the hotel staff prevented any further mishaps as they locked the door of the room. The leopard seemed visibly nervous, said hotel staff.
The leopard was later tranquilised and transported to the Nahargarh Rescue Centre, where wild animals are kept after rescue.
It is not the first time that leopards have forayed into residential colonies. In 2019, a leopard entered one of the renowned city schools, Sawai Man Singh Vidyalaya of Jaipur and he was caught on CCTV. Although the school was closed at that time, the leopard was seen prowling across the kindergarten section. Another such incident was reported from Malviya Nagar colony in Jaipur in December 2021.
Wildlife experts say Jaipur has forested areas in Jhalana, where the leopards are found. They are straying into human settlements due to shrinking forest cover, human encroachments and in search of food and water.
Although leopards do not attack unprovoked, they are likely to do so in self-defence, say wildlife experts.