Fear gripped the locals in outer Delhi's Alipur today after a few farm labourers claimed to have spotted a leopard in the fields, following which a team of forest department officials scanned the area.
Delhi's Chief Wildlife Warden AK Shukla said it appears to have been a false alarm as the team did not spot any leopard pugmark in the locality.
"Our team scanned the entire area through the day. We did not find any pugmark or remnants of any animal that the leopard could have preyed on. A team of Wildlife SOS, an animal welfare NGO, also assisted us," Shukla told PTI.
Earlier, a police team reached the area and contacted the forest department after receiving complaints that a leopard was hiding in the area.
"I was working in the fields when I saw the creature running across the field. There is considerable fear among the people," a villager claimed, while another added that it "could not have been a dog or wolf".
Delhi does not have any leopard in its territory. However, there have been instances where the wild cats have crossed over to the capital's borders from the neighbouring states.
Last November, a leopard had trekked upstream along the Yamuna from Haryana and had entered the Yamuna Biodiversity Park here.
It was later caught by forest officials and released in the Shiwalik ranges near Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh.
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