Ahmedabad: The forest team deployed in Sanand has not found fresh leopard pugmarks in the past 24 hours, even as surveillance continues. The last pugmarks were found around midnight on Monday in Moti Devati. On Tuesday, surveillance using a thermal drone was carried out. The survey only detected dogs and found no leopard.Officials said the absence of fresh pugmarks does not conclusively establish that the leopard has moved out of the area. “One cannot sit back and say that the leopard has left the area,” an official said, adding that teams would continue monitoring the landscape.No livestock or animal kill has been reported in the area. Officials pointed out that the landscape has several patches of dense vegetation, making it difficult to establish whether any dogs may have been killed or whether the leopard has been moving within relatively secluded areas. “Since there is a large number of dogs in the area, the leopard may be getting easy prey. This could be one of the reasons why it may continue to remain in densely green patches,” an official said.Three trap cages have been set up and forest teams are continuing ground surveillance. Another round of thermal drone surveillance had been planned for Wednesday night.Officials have urged residents not to venture into forested or secluded areas and to immediately inform the forest department about any suspected sighting, pugmarks, animal kill or other evidence of leopard movement.
