‘Two big cats keeping forest department officials on toes’

Bareilly: Two big cats, first spotted in different places of Bareilly city weeks ago, have been eluding Forest Department officials and keeping them on their toes here amid their renewed efforts to catch them.

The big cats include a leopard, which was first spotted in Bareilly Air Force Station on November 11 and is suspected to be hiding in its sprawling campus, said Bareilly Chief Forest Conservator Lalit Verma on Sunday.

Besides the leopard, a tigress was spotted in the city around three weeks ago and is believed to be holed up presently in an abandoned rubber factory premises, said Verma, adding she was last seen three days ago in a CCTV footage.

To catch the tigress, whose location has been found at the rubber factory, Dr R K Singh of Kanpur Zoo and Dr Dayaram from Dudhwa National Park are expected to reach Bareilly on Tuesday to tranquillise her, he said, adding the two officials’ support staff have already reached Bareilly.

To catch the leopard, suspected to be hiding in Air Force station’s sprawling campus, a team of Wildlife Trust of India has begun patrolling the station campus, he added.

Bareilly Divisional Forest Officer Bharat Lal said sensor cameras are being brought from Pilibhit Tiger Reserve to catch the leopard, but owing to the large area of the Air Force station and thick bushes, the leopard is yet to be detected.