Bhubaneswar: After a night-long search operation, the forest department traced the movement of a wild cat in the wee hours of Sunday near the airport dumpyard. The search was launched after two women working at the dumpster claimed to have seen a leopard moving around.
The forest department swung into action, searching for the animal, but instead spotted a wild cat in the area in the early hours of Sunday.
Range Officer Radhakant Hota stated, “No sign of a leopard has been found yet. We patrolled the area throughout the night and only found the movement of a wild cat, which was captured on a mobile phone.”
The department set up a cage to trap the animal after the women claimed to have spotted the leopard and installed four trap cameras at strategic locations. However, no wild animal movement has been captured yet. To attract the animal, forest personnel laid a cage with chicken bait.
In a continued search operation throughout the night, Forest officials found pugmarks resembling those of jackals at the location on Saturday, but the prints were unclear due to rain.
In the past, the airport has witnessed the capture of jackals, wild cats, hyenas, and leopards from the operational zone.
