Leopard strays into residential colony in Jaipur, attacks 3

Panic spread in the Vidhyadhar Nagar area here after a leopard strayed into a residential colony and attacked three people, officials said on Sunday.

The incident occurred on Saturday, they said, adding that the wildcat was tranquillised and rescued following hours-long operation by a forest department team.

Deputy Conservator of Forest Jagdish Gupta said that information was received about the movement of a leopard in Vidyadhar Nagar.

It was first spotted in a government guest house behind the plants in the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) garden, he said.

The leopard then ventured onto the road and attacked three people. A crowd gathered, chasing the animal and filming its movement, Gupta said.

Upon receiving information, teams from the forest department, police and civil defence reached the spot. It was then tranquillised and rescued, the deputy conservator said.

Gupta said that a large part of the Nahargarh forest area is connected to the Vidyadhar Nagar area, making occasional leopard sightings in search of food or water not uncommon.

According to forest department data, the leopard population in Jaipur has been steadily increasing for some time.

There are about 75 leopards in Jhalana, Amagarh and Nahargarh forest area, with 45 in Jhalana and over 20 in Amagarh. Rajasthan is estimated to have over 920 leopards, the data showed.