It is not necessary that the animals stray into the city from nearby forests or fringes of forests. The Forest Department believes that the leopard that created a havoc in the city of Meerut on Sunday entered through an open drain in the city. A day long search on Monday revealed a one and a half minute footage of the leopard caught in the CCTV cameras of a shopping complex at 3:30 am.
DFO Meerut Sushant Sharma while talking to "The Pioneer" said that the leopard had either gone back through the drain or has found a safe hide out and would make an appearance later in the night. "The leopard escaped from the Army hospital at 2 am in the morning and we searched for it continuously till nine am in the morning. The last footage that we have procured is from the complex where the CCTV’s have recorded a footage of 3:30 am in the morning of the leopard. The leopard has either moved into a safe hideout or has left through the drain" said Sushant Sharma.
The leopard which was first reported at a timber godown on Sunday made a dash out of the Army hospital early Sunday morning after a failed tranqualizing attempt with the Forest Department continuing their search throughout Sunday night and throughout Monday when a high alert was sounded and the schools and the colleges had to be closed. The animal injured four people.
DFO Sushant Sharma said that they believed that the leopard which was first located at a timber shop had entered the city through an open drain. "The forest area is not dense and there is a strong possibility that the leopard entered through the drain which had very little water and opens in the same area where the leopard was first located. We believe that the leopard had left through the same drain which is a very long one " said Sushant.
The DFO said that the first reports of leopard were received in the afternoon on Sunday from a timber godown where it had hidden itself. "When a person entered the basement area the leopard attacked him and then moved into an Army hospital where attempts to tranqualize it failed because of agitated crowds and the leopard jumped out of the window and disappeared. It attacked the SO and tried to maul him and it also attacked an onlooker and a jopurnalist" said the DFO.
He said that nearly three darts were hit at the leopard at the hospital by a team Wildlife Trust of India. "The leopard was hit by three darts while the first one missed the beast, the two others hit it. But doctors feel that the tranquailzing attempt failed because the animal was extremely agitated. The crowds made the animal agitated and if the adrenalin levels increase the medicine administered through the dart remains ineffective. It injured one person who was trying to put his head within the room and attacked an SO before it disappeared" he said. The DFO however said that even with the high alert being sounded the people were on the move continuously in the city.