Leopard sighted in another Fatehgarh Sahib village; moving towards Shivalik mountains, say officials

Meanwhile, video clips showing the presence of two leopards in the area are being widely circulated on social media. However, Sagri dismissed the videos as fake and urged people to stay away from rumours.

The leopard was first spotted near a water channel passing along the outskirts of the Kheri Gandian village in Patiala. However, it quickly left for other locations. On August 25, villagers spotted the animal 25 kilometres away at a millet field in the Baran village.

Later, wildlife officials found pug marks of the leopard at Teona and Lang villages of Patiala. On August 29, the animal attacked a calf in the Rodewala village and the next day, the animal was spotted in the Chanarthal Khurd village under the neighbouring district of Fatehgarh Sahib.

CCTV visuals showed the animal travelling across different villages such as Saunda, Sanipur, and Bajipur during the night.

“From August 30 to September 2, the leopard travelled more than 20 km and RRT followed the animal towards the Shivalik mountains. Hence, it appears that the animal is progressing towards the Shivalik mountains. Moreover, there has been no man-animal conflict so far. It appears that the animal is getting its prey on the way. It seems to be stray dogs. RRT teams are moving with tranquiliser guns and other rescue equipment as well,” Sagri said.

Parneet Shergill, Deputy Commissioner, Fatehgarh Sahib, said some paw prints were reported from the Chanarthal village last week. “Thereafter, we issued an advisory for the people to remain alert and released a number wherein they could inform in case of any sighting. No further complaint or information was received. However, it is learnt that the big cat is not entering the populated area but is travelling on the outskirts of the villages only,” said Shergill.