Leopard on prowl: Spotted in Bengaluru's apartment building for the third time but pulls a Houdini again

You mess with my natural habitat and I gatecrash into yours. The incidents of wild animals finding their way into the city are not rare. The recent most instance happens to be of leopard that's been playing hide and seek near an apartment complex at Bengaluru's Bannerghatta.

The big cat was spotted again at the Prestige Song apartment building of Bengaluru on early Monday morning and its movement was caught on CCTV cameras. The same leopard was spotted for the first time at the Prestige Song apartment building on Friday night, then again for the second time on Sunday. As per the reports and the video footage, both these times the animal stayed within the premises for close to 20 minutes.

However, the animal again made an appearance in the same building on Monday morning at around 1 a.m and of course, pulled a Houdini by disappearing into the bushes. It must be noted that the apartment area is within 5 km range from the Bannerghatta National Park.

Forest departments officials said that they have increased vigil in the area and the efforts are on to catch the animal alive and they have also set traps for the same. They have kept two goats as baits and have kept two cages ready, to ensure that the animal is caught alive by Monday evening. The officers on the ground said they are keeping a strict vigil and are hopeful of catching the animal.

Leopards entering the residential complexes in the periphery areas of the Bengaluru city is not rare. In the recent past, leopards from the nearby forest areas like Bannerghatta and Jarakabande Kaval have found their way into the city in search of prey.

It's going to get even wilder in the cities

Several studies have been conducted to figure out the whys and hows behind the instances of wild animals find their way into cities. It doesn't take any research or study to figure out that deforestation and urbanisation go hand-in-hand in ensuring that the wild is left with no option but to encroach into urban spaces.

In fact, several scientists have dug deep into how wild animals are adapting to city living. From Mountain Lions being caught on camera in San Francisco's Bay Area to several wild boars in Berlin that have figured out how to hide from people during the day and emerge at night; there's no dearth of documentaries that depict the evolution of the wild animals.

A while ago, it was depicted on a wildlife channel how coyotes are the star example in the case. Native to middle America, coyotes have now spread into nearly every corner of the US in the past few decades. They are also said to emerge at night and have adapted to even city traffic patterns to figure out when to cross the road. As for the lines, they have clearly been crossed.