Leopard task force continues search for big cat spotted on September 17 in Bengaluru’s Electronics City

The Karnataka Forest Department’s leopard task force is attempting to trace and capture a leopard which was reportedly spotted near a toll plaza in Electronics City on September 17, 2024.

Assistant Conservator of Forest, Bengaluru South V. Ganesh told The Hindu on Thursday that task force personnel have been deployed in the vicinity where the leopard was sighted on September 17.

Spotted in the city: What draws leopards to Bengaluru?

CCTV footage had reportedly captured a leopard crossing a flyover near the toll plaza in the early hours of that day. However, since then there has been no sighting of the big cat.

“Our task force is carrying out the search for the leopard. But there has been no fresh sighting of the leopard either by our team or by the camera traps we have laid,” Mr. Ganesh said.

Deputy Conservator of Forest, Bengaluru Urban, N. Ravindra Kumar on September 17 had said that there is no confirmation of the leopard being spotted.

“A video has been doing rounds that a leopard was spotted in Electronics city and that CCTV images had captured its movements. But there is no confirmation on it,” Mr Kumar had said.

Another sighting

Prior to this incident, on September 2, another leopard was spotted by residents of BSR Layout in Kyalasanahalli near Jigani.

In the wake of repeated sightings of leopards in the city’s residential areas, the Forest Department has set up a dedicated rapid-response leopard task force.