Leopard scare on DRDO laboratory campus in Pune-Alandi road, search continues till night

PUNE: A team of forest officials and volunteers from NGO ResQ on Tuesday mounted an elaborate operation to rescue a leopard that was sighted on the sprawling campus of the Research and Development Establishment (Engineers) on the Pune-Alandi road in the early morning hours.
The Research and Development Establishment-Engineers (R&DE) is a premier Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) laboratory and involved in the development of mobility equipment for the Indian Army's Corps of Engineers.

Security guards on the campus were alerted by the constant barking of a pack of stray dogs at the rear end of the establishment around 4am on Tuesday. One of them surveyed the area from a watchtower and spotted the leopard. The guard filmed the leopard's movement on a cellphone camera and sent the clips to the laboratory's security in charge. The forest officials were then informed about the leopard and an operation started to rescue the animal.
Range forest officer Mukesh Sanas told TOI that 20 trap cameras were put in place to trace the leopard. The forest team and the NGO could not spot it till 9pm. "We have found the animal's pug marks on the campus. Our team will continue the rescue operation until we locate the animal," he said.
An R&DE official said they were also using drones to spot the animal. The campus of the R&DE is adjacent to the Border Roads Organisation's General Reserve Engineering Force campus and the Bombay Engineering Group's Training Battalion (II). Both are big campuses spread over 300 hectares. Behind the campuses is a forest area of Charoli and other villages. The leopard might have strayed into the DRDO facility from this route, a forest official said.
P M Kurulkar, the R&DE director, told TOI, "We have told our staffers not to go to their offices on the campus on Tuesday. We held meetings in our guest houses to continue our planned activities. Currently, a team of 15 forest officials and volunteers from the NGO are present on the campus. They will remain with us on Tuesday night. We have given them our drone that is equipped with a thermal camera to trap the leopard."
He said, "We guess the animal might have come in search of stray dogs. After venturing into the campus, the animal attempted to jump over the compound wall but failed. Thus, it might have taken shelter on the campus. The residential quarters of the laboratory are separated from the technical areas. There's no direct threat to the families on the campus."
Neha Panchamia, the founder and president of RESQ, said, "We have combed a green patch spanning around five km near the laboratory, but in vain. The drone surveillance could not trace the animal. Forest officials said leopard sightings are frequent in the area. Our team will work in tandem with the forest officials."
Rahul Patil, the deputy conservator of the forest division, Pune, said, "The trap cameras will help us ascertain the leopard's movement by Wednesday morning. We will also use sniffer dogs."
This is the second incident of sighting of a leopard in a military establishment located on Pune-Alandi road.
In August last year, a leopard was spotted near the Training Battalion-II of the Bombay Engineering Group and Centre of the Indian Army in the Dighi area. Earlier this year, another leopard had strayed into the Mercedes Benz plant in Chakan.