Airport Leopard: Elusive visitor spotted near trap cage but evades capture

2 weeks ago

 Elusive visitor spotted near trap cage but evades capture

Hyderabad: The leopard that ventured into the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) has remained elusive for the last five days but Forest officials on Thursday expressed confidence that it would be trapped in a couple of days.

Infact, the leopard came close to one of the cages, with its movements being captured in camera traps. A goat has been kept in the cage as bait for the leopard and it might get trapped in a day or two, Ranga Reddy DFO Sudhakar Reddy said.

The leopard was spotted on the airport premises on Sunday, with airport surveillance cameras capturing the leopard’s movement and the forest department being alerted.

Accordingly, the forest department held a meeting with the RGIA officials on Tuesday and intensified measures to trap the leopard.

The department installed two more cages in addition the three cages that were set up. Similarly, 15 more trap cameras were installed at strategic locations in addition to the existing five installed at different locations.

A team of officials was closely monitoring the situation. Every day, the team was patrolling the airport lands in anticipation that the leopard might be sighted and action could be taken accordingly as all arrangements to capture the leopard were in place

People residing or moving in the adjoining areas of the airport were being asked to be cautious and alert.