In a relief to the residents of Hubballi, it has now been confirmed that the leopard trapped at Kavalageri village was the same one that was sighted in the vicinity of Nrupatunga Betta in Hubballi.
The leopard was first sighted in the vicinity of Nrupatunga Betta and during the combing operation the forest personnel had found its pug marks and droppings. Even as the search operations were on, leopard sighting was reported from Kavalageri near Dharwad, where the leopard was finally trapped last Sunday. As it was not sure whether there were two leopards or the same one, the scat of the leopard was sent to a Hyderabad laboratory for testing. Meanwhile the forest personnel had continued their vigil around Nrupatunga Betta and the Deputy Commissioner had ordered for closure of 12 schools in the locality as a precautionary measure.
On Friday, the laboratory report confirmed it was the same leopard. Deputy Conservator of Forest Yashpal Kshirsagar tweeted that leopard scat samples collected from Nrupatunga Betta in Hubballi and Kavalageri were of the same leopard as per the DNA report from CCMB (Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology), Hyderabad.
