HYDERABAD: The state forest department, which has been searching for the possible presence of a leopard near the airport at Shamshabad for the past several days, on Sunday said it has found no evidence of the presence of any big cat in the area.
A thorough investigation of the entire area, along with a study of images captured by various camera traps installed in the vicinity, has shown no leopard movement, department personnel said.
The search began after airport employees, checking CCTV footage, reported that they saw a leopard-like animal moving in the area. Some of the clips from the footage that were later shared widely on social media platforms, sparked concern among locals following which the department began a thorough search.
However, investigations by the forest department staff indicated that a civet cat was possibly moving around and it could have been mistaken for a leopard. Even reports that remains of some wild boar killed by a wild animal, which airport staff believed was a leopard, were found to have been killed by stray dogs.
The forest department has installed a total of 20 camera traps, along with two trap cages as part of their efforts to identify a possible leopard or to catch it.
