Fear gripped residents in outer Delhi’s Alipur on Tuesday after a few farm labourers claimed to have spotted a leopard in the fields, following which a team of Forest Department officials scanned the area.
Delhi Chief Wildlife Warden A. K. Shukla said it appears to have been a false alarm. “Our team scanned the area. We did not find any pugmarks or remnants of any animal the leopard may have preyed on,” he said.
The Department was alerted by the police, which received complaints that a leopard was hiding in the area. “I was working in the fields when I saw the creature running across the field,” a villager said.
Delhi does not have any leopards in its territory but there have been instances of wild cats crossing over to the Capital’s borders from the neighbouring States.
