Wildlife Dept calls off search operation as ‘no traces of leopard’ found in Badamwari

Srinagar, Jul 21: The operation to catch a leopard sighted by some people in the Badamwari area of Srinagar was called off on Friday as the wildlife officials said they received no evidence about the presence of the wild animal.
The department had been searching for the leopard for three days and three nights, a senior wildlife official supervising the operation said.
“We have called off the rescue operation as we found nothing on the ground about the presence of a leopard in the Badamwari area,” the official said.
We corroborated the evidence with the statements of those who were injured today, and it was established that it was a rabid dog, he added.
The official said that following the couple of “unidentified” animal attacks on Friday morning, the department scaled up the surveillance, after which it emerged that a “rabid dog” was roaming in the area.
“Earlier on Friday a person was attacked, after which our team spoke to him but the victim could not identify the animal. During the searches in the area, a dog tried to attack one of our officials too and later the same dog attacked one more civilian. Then we established that the animal is none other than the rabid dog,” he said.
However, Fazal Hussain who was the first person attacked by the animal on Friday morning, said that he identified the attacker as a “leopard cub”.
To follow the proper protocols, we called up the authorities at Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) to catch the rabid dog, the wildlife officials said, adding that after their arrival, the SMC authorities took the dog into their custody.
They, however, added that if in case people witness any suspicious animal movement in the area, they can call on the numbers already disseminated in the area.
On Monday, there were reports of a leopard being sighted in the Badamwari area of Srinagar after which police, through a tweet, asked the locals of the area to remain indoors and not venture out unnecessarily. This was followed by the rescue operation by the wildlife department. (KNO)