‘Leopard’ sighting goes viral, turns out to be a 'cat'

Visuals, claimed to be of a leopard sighting in Jargari village, have recently been making the rounds on social media, leaving area residents worried.

Wildlife authorities have assured residents that the quadruped in the video was not a leopard, but a cat.

Surveillance for the presence of leopards or other animals that may harm humans had been increased, the authorities added.

In the viral video, said to be of last evening, a quadruped can be seen walking on a link road near Jargari village.

Lambardar Narinder Singh and Avtar Singh Jargari, a social activist, claimed that since the video went viral, farmers and farm labourers had been scared of going to their fields located on the outskirts of the village.

“We had informed the authorities about the presence of a leopard in the area. However, instead of calling teams to catch the animal, they (wildlife authorities) told us that the animal in the video was a cat, and was not harmful to human beings,” said Singh.

Some residents alleged that the “leopard” had also killed some animals and peacocks during the past few days.

Gurinder Singh, Beat In-charge, Forest Department, said senior wildlife functionaries and experts, after studying the videos and pug marks, had confirmed that the animal in the video was not a leopard.

Singh opined that reports of the presence of leopards in Fatehgarh Sahib and Patiala districts had likely led people to believe that a leopard had entered the region.