Authorities in Hyderabad are on a lookout for a leopard that went missing on Thursday. Nearly 24 hours after the leopard fled from the main road on the outskirts of the city, authorities have been unable to find it and they are carrying out search operations to spot the animal.
Nehru Zoological Park curator N. Kshitija was quoted as saying that, "We haven't traced it yet. Search operations are still underway in the area where it was spotted."
Officials are doing their best to spot the wild cat. They are using drone cameras and going through footage from 26 CCTV cameras in the area so that the wild cat can be traced.
Tracing the leopard
People saw the leopard lying beside the median of a road under bridge in Mailardevpally area of the city. Passersby stated that the animal looked sick and injured. The leopard was last seen entering a private farm on the Shamshabad Road, but is yet to be spotted since then.
The situation is being monitored by senior officials of the Forest Department as they feel that the animal might pose a threat to the local populace.
Leopard's last known spot
Police and forest officials received the information about a leopard spotted in the city on Thursday morning and they immediately rushed to the spot, along with a rescue team of the city-based Nehru Zoological Park.
Passersby captured the leopard's photos and videos earlier on Thursday when it was lying beside the median. The pictures and the videos were circulated over social media, which caught everyone's attention. A man who tried to approach the big cat and went too close to it was attacked and shifted to a local hospital. Police stopped vehicular traffic from both sides.
In another incident that took place in Hyderabad, an Asian Palm Civet was rescued by forest officials on Thursday. It had strayed into the city's Golconda area. The animal had entered Fateh Darwaza on Wednesday night by a team of forest personnel. It had caused fear among locals, who thought it was a black panther.
Forest officials said that the civet was shifted to Nehru Zoological Park. The animal will be left into the forest once it receives the necessary treatment.
