Leopard from Jhalana strays into posh Jaipur Colony

Sleuths of the wildlife department on Saturday conducted searches to locate and rescue a leopard that had been prowling the streets of a posh colony here on Friday night.

CCTV footage captured the leopard moving through different areas of the colony, which houses prominent residents, including former BJP MP Ram Charan Bohra.

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Some residents of the Lal Bahadur Shastri Colony in the posh Durgapura area reported hearing strange, loud growling sounds around 2 am on Friday. They woke up their neighbours and checked CCTV footage, which showed multiple clips of the leopard walking through the streets. The animal’s growls were also heard outside Bohra’s house.

Forest and wildlife officials were called in. They reached the area and placed cages at a couple of locations to trap and rescue the animal.

Regional Forest Officer Jitendra Singh Shekhawat said that the search was on and that the animal had not been sighted so far.

Jaipur is the only city in the country to house three leopard safaris — the Nahargarh (Beed Papad), the Aamagarh, and the Jhalana Leopard Safari. Big cats from these areas, which have a fairly good number of these animals, frequently stray into the city’s residential areas.