Leopard sighted at DRDO facility in Pune

A team of Pune forest officials and volunteers from NGO ResQ on Tuesday conducted an elaborate operation to rescue a leopard which was sighted sprawling across the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) campus on Alandi road.

Ashutosh Shendge, Assistant Conservator of Forest (ACF), Pune said that he received a call about the sighting at 3.30 am. A team of regional forest officiers and volunteers from ResQ reached the spot. The search for the big cat continued till 3 pm but the leopard could not be sighted again.

“The security guard on the watch tower saw the leopard crossing his tower inside the campus and immediately called the forest officials. The ResQ volunteers and forest officials reached the spot and we searched for the animal. It is difficult to search over the 100 acres of the campus which houses research buildings, administration buildings and has a dense forest within the campus,” said Shendge.

He added, “We had a tracking team and had set up trap cameras and thermal drones within the campus to check for any movement from the leopard though it might have gone into the Dhanori forest which is adjacent to the campus for there are many exit places for the animal to slip through.”

Shendge also added that citizens should not panic for the leopard was only sighted and he did not harm anyone.