Leopard spotted just 3 km from Thalaghattapura metro

Bengaluru: A team of 20, comprising forest officers and the leopard task force, has been stationed at Mallasandra, Bengaluru Rural, since Saturday night, after a young leopard was spotted earlier in the day.

The wild cat was spotted inside the compound of a woodwork factory, about three km away from the Thalaghattapura metro station. No pug marks were found in the vicinity.

“We got a call around 9:15 am on Saturday and have kept a close watch on the area since. However, since it is a residential area with a school close by and frequent vehicular movement, we refrained from combing the area so as to not cause any panic among the public. We will start the combing operation post 10 pm,” N R Kamble, RFO (Kaggalipura), told DH.

The team laid out a bone and some meat to lure the leopard, estimated to be one to two years old, based on the testimonials of a lorry driver and a local labourer who spotted the leopard. “We are also using three camera traps to make sure we don’t miss any movement. Since the initial spotting in the morning, no one else has reported any spotting. We’re tracking all movement to figure out if the leopard is still around,” he added.

Leopard sightings near Kaggalipura have increased in recent times. “Every week, there is at least one spotting. We try our best to lure the wildlife back into the forest without having to use any tranquillisers,” he said.

Until Saturday night, the leopard had not caused harm to any members of the public or animals in the vicinity.