Forest dept to scour apartment with drone to trace leopard

Forest officials have decided to conduct a drone survey to trace the leopard that strayed into the apartment off Koppa-Begur Road twice on Saturday.

The decision comes after residents said they had seen the animal once again on Sunday morning.

Forest Department officials set up a cage for the leopard that visited the Prestige Song apartment in South Bengaluru on Saturday morning and late night.

While the Saturday visits were captured on CCTV camera, officials could not verify the residents’ claim of seeing the big cat once again around 9 am on Sunday.

“We have decided not to take any risk. We have set up a cage with bait in the bushes near the apartment. The apartment is located next to a scrubby forest, which spreads to an extent of about 30 acres. About 10 acres of this area is an abandoned quarry, which attracts leopards,” an official said, adding that the apartment is also less than 5 km from the Bannerghatta Forest. The department has decided to wait till Monday morning.

“If the leopard is not caught by (Monday) morning, we will begin a drone surveillance on Monday. Residents have already been advised to stay indoors during evenings and late nights. We hope to catch the animal soon,” an official added.