A team of Gautam Buddh Nagar Forest Department has launched a search operation
A wild animal spotted lurking in Greater Noida has sparked a leopard scare among residents. The animal is not a leopard but has spots like one, officials say.
The animal, believed to be a fishing cat, was spotted hiding in the basement of an under-construction tower in an apartment complex on Tuesday afternoon.
A team of the Gautam Buddh Nagar Forest Department has launched a search operation to trace the animal, while the residents have been asked to stay indoors.
A forest department team from Meerut has also been called in to help with the search.
Divisional Forest Officer Pramod Kumar Srivastava, who scanned videos taken by security guards, said the animal appears to be a fishing cat - a species of cat that has "spots like a leopard."
The videos show the animal running into the basement of the half-built tower.
Last week too, some residents of the apartment complex had raised an alarm, claiming to have spotted a leopard.