Leopard scare in Gachibowli: Dog mistaken for big cat

However, the forest officials who visited the spot and inspected the surroundings and also set up trap cameras, did not find any clues on a big cat roaming the area. The trap cameras recorded dogs

Hyderabad: Panic prevailed in parts of the Gachibowli IT corridor amid rumours of a leopard on the prowl being sighted near Road Mistry College of Social Work and Research Centre here on Saturday night.

However, the forest officials who visited the spot and inspected the surroundings and also set up trap cameras, did not find any clues on a big cat roaming the area. The trap cameras recorded dogs and monkeys around the area in front of Biodiversity Park and it is suspected that a dog could have been mistaken for a leopard.

It all started with a woman working in the college campus claiming to have seen a leopard. Following this, a team of forest official including Chilkur range officer and section officer along with anti-poaching staff rushing to the spot. An extensive check of the place where the woman claimed to have seen the big cat did not show any footprints. “We also checked an old building where we found the footprints of a dog,” an official said.

The area behind the old building which spreads out to nearly 15 acre has wild growth with small hillocks and is frequented by monkeys and peacocks apart from the stray dogs, officials said. On the instructions of the senior officials of  the forest department, trap cameras were set up and a check on Sunday showed only stray dogs and monkeys but no leopard.

“To allay the concerns of the local residents, we have decided to locate the trap cameras there only and monitor the movement of the animals,” said the Chilkur Forest range officer.

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