The animal is probably searching for its cubs, an expert said (Representational)
A leopard was caught on CCTV cameras roaming around a shopping mall in Maharashtra's Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, sending the forest authorities into a tizzy, officials said.
The CCTV footage, which went viral today, shows the feline wandering outside the main gate of Prozone Mall in the CIDCO N1 area of the city in the early hours of Wednesday, prompting forest officials to launch a search operation. However, the animal has not been traced so far, they said.
The forest officials believe this is the same leopard that was spotted in the residential areas of Ulka Nagari and Shambhunagar on July 15. The forest department has installed cages to capture the big cat.
"But the leopard has now been spotted around 5 km from where it was seen earlier. It shows that it crossed the Jalna Road area that passes through the heart of the city. On Wednesday, the animal was captured on the CCTV camera roaming around at the entry gate of the Prozone Mall," Deputy Conservator of Forest Dadasaheb Taur said.
"We are trying to catch the leopard, for which we have installed cages around the mall. But so far, the animal has not been found," he said.
Honorary wildlife warden Dr Kishor Pathak said, "There is a possibility that this is a female leopard. She might be in search of her young ones."
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