Hoax calls keep wildlife officials on toes

Bipin Bhardwaj

Tribune News Service

Panchkula, December 13

It was much ado about nothing in Panchkula, Jalauli, Shamtu and other villages on the outskirts of the city when scared residents called wildlife officials for help after allegedly noticing leopards in their surroundings. The hoax calls kept the staff on their toes since last night. However, they found a bitch accompanying its pups in Jalauli today.

Residents of villages in the Lower Shivalik Hills are scared following an incident of leopard attack on four farmers in Badauna village on December 2. As the news related to appearance of a leopard in Jalauli village even created panic among the officials of the police and the civic administration.

The officials received a call that a leopard was spotted on premises of Gymkhana Club, Sector 3. Officials led by Surinder Rathi, DFO (Wildlife), reached the spot and laid a trap. They faced disappointment as no leopard was found.

KC Meena, conservator of forest, claimed to have got a phone call from Jasmer Singh, lambardar of Jalauli village, regarding the presence of a leopard on the Tangri rivulet bed in the village.

“We sent a team to the site and after a search we found that the scared village residents mistook a bitch and its pups as leopards. We followed the pugmarks and finally detected the dogs,” he added.