Panic after suspected leopard sighting video goes viral in Ganjam

Berhampur: A video of a suspected leopard sighting a top of the nearby hill, went viral in the social media, causing panic among the villagers of Lanka and Sunakhala in Ganjam district’s Patrapur block.A group of children sighted the animal sitting on the hilltop, while they were playing on Saturday afternoon and made a video of it, which went viral in social media. However, forest officials said they could not find any pug-mark or report of cattle lifting by the big cat in the area while they conducted an inquiry on Sunday.“After getting information, our team has rushed to the spot to conduct an inquiry. During the inquiry, they did not find the pug-mark of the big cat in the area.

There was no complaint of the lifting of the cattle by the leopard in the same area,” said Sunny Khokhar, divisional forest officer (DFO) Berhampur.He further said they kept strict vigil on its movement and alerted the nearby villagers not to tease the animal. The DFO said the leopard was in the forest area of the same region. The forest officials said they have installed two camera traps to identify the animal and its movement and are planning to install more camera traps.

Forest range officer of Samantiapalli, Manoj Kumar Patra said, “We have urged the villagers not to panic and to be vigilant on the movement of the animal. If they notice the movement of the big cat or any other wild animal, they should immediately inform the forest officials.” Forest officials have advised not to spread rumours without verifying the fact about the presence of wild animals.