UP 2 leopards spotted in Pilibhit Rampur rescue ops on

Pilibhit/Rampur (UP), August 30 (PTI) Two leopards have been spotted in Pilibhit and Rampur districts, causing panic among the locals, officials said on Friday.
     An official said that the forest department has set up cages in both districts to catch the leopards.
     The leopard that came out of the Pilibhit Tiger Reserve area was seen sitting in a sugarcane field in Bilgaon village adjacent to Nagar Kotwali late in Pilibhit Thursday evening, an official said.
     When the villagers saw the leopard, people from the surrounding villages also gathered at the spot.
     "On receiving information about the wild animal reaching close to the human population, a team was immediately sent to the spot. Officials are engaged in the process of returning the leopard to the forest safely so that human-animal conflict or any unexpected incident can be avoided," Manish Singh, Deputy Director of Pilibhit Tiger Reserve, told reporters.
     Meanwhile, the villagers said that the people of Jamuna Jamuni village of Rampur district are also troubled by the terror of leopards because they have been seen roaming around the population area, sitting on the boring of a tubewell in the agricultural field and waiting for domestic animals.
     When the forest department was informed, they initiated an investigation and found the footprints of the leopard indicating that it was nearby, they said.
     Hardeep Singh, a resident of the Jamuna Jamuni village said, "The leopard was seen here three to four days ago and then the forest department was informed about it. It has been confirmed that there is a leopard here and they have also placed a cage for it."
     Rajiv Kumar, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) of Rampur, said "For the last three to four days, we have been getting information regarding the presence of a leopard around Jamuna Jamuni village."
     "We have formed a team under the leadership of our ranger which is combing there in the morning and evening. Experts said that the leopard is still there, so we have placed a cage there and tied a goat in it. People have been asked to stay alert."

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)