Bhubaneswar: A search operation was launched at Biju Patnaik International Airport in Bhubaneswar after a woman reported spotting a leopard near the airport dump yard area.
The forest department officials, accompanied by local police, combed the area with nets, traps, and other equipment but found no signs of the leopard. The forest personnel said that they only found pug marks of a jackal.
“We have not yet traced any sign of leopard. We have sighted some pug marks which seem to be of jackals. No pug marks of leopard have been found yet. We are still searching for it,” Radhakant Hota, a forest official said.
The Forest Department team have tied some hens to a tree as bait in a bid to entice the animal towards the food.
“We have tied a few hens to nearby trees as bait. If a leopard is in the vicinity, it will come to feed on the hens and we will trap it,” an official said.
This isn’t the first time a leopard has been spotted at the airport. In 2019, a leopard was caught and later released into the nearby Chandaka forest.
