A couple of days after a leopard was captured from the Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA) premises here by forest officials, another leopard was reportedly sighted at Talasahi in the Rangamatia area of the city on Thursday night.
“I had come out of the house at around 9.30 pm yesterday when I spotted the leopard in a bush. It was around three feet high and five feet long. Later, I immediately ran away from the spot and the animal also vanished,” claimed a local resident, who reportedly spotted the animal.
This has triggered panic among the residents of Rangamatia near the Mancheswar railway station as reportedly the pugmarks of the leopard were also found in the adjoining land.Officials of city forest division rushed to the spot after getting information and started inspecting the pugmarks to establish the identity of the animal.
Sources said the forest officials are planning to carry out patrolling in the area on Friday night; and if required, further steps like setting up cages would be taken to capture the animal.
Experts said that with the habitat of wild animals being destroyed in the Chandaka forest, the animals are straying into human habitations in search of food.
Earlier on Sunday, a five-year-old male leopard had strayed into the Palaspalli area near the airport. The animal was later captured by forest officials near the airport cargo terminal gate and later released into Chandaka forest on Wednesday.