The hair and blood samples of the leopard, which ran away from Bannerghatta Biological Park Rescue Centre on Monday were sent to the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) in Hyderabad on Tuesday for DNA matching to know the escape route the animal would have taken.

Veterinarian Manjunatha Reddy told Deccan Herald that the blood samples were collected on February 7 while a team of veterinarians and the BBP staff collected hair samples on Monday. 

Some park officials are speculating that the mesh between the holding house where the leopard was housed and the one to its left would not have been closed properly. The leopard would have escaped into the other empty cage and later fled from there. This is possible as the other houses did not have a squeeze cage extension for additional security.  

BBP Executive Director Santosh Kumar said that the possibility of the leopard opening the cage has been ruled out. “It seems like there is negligence. There is a need for a thorough investigation,” he said.