Ahmedabad: A leopard appeared to have returned to Moti Devati area of Sanand, with fresh pugmarks found on Tuesday providing the second confirmed evidence of the big cat’s presence in the area within a month.The pugmarks, believed to be those of an adult leopard, were spotted by villagers and reported to the forest department. A forest team examined the footprints and confirmed them as leopard pugmarks. Similar pugmarks were found in the same area in mid-Aug, indicating the animal’s repeated movement through the belt.Deputy conservator of forests, Ahmedabad, Minal Jani said surveillance had been intensified. “One cage has been kept and if there is sighting, we will keep more such cages. Night scanning with drones will continue,” she said.A dog carcass was also found nearby, raising suspicion that it could have been killed by the leopard. However, forest officials have not attributed the kill to the big cat as no pugmarks were found around the carcass. The dog was found dead along the Sanand-Viramgam road on the outskirts of Sanand.Officials said the leopard may have been moving through agricultural and scrubland areas surrounding Sanand. The repeated evidence is significant as the area forms part of Ahmedabad’s rapidly urbanising fringe, where agricultural land and villages are increasingly surrounded by residential and industrial development.The latest evidence comes weeks after a leopard was captured on CCTV at Serendeep Mansions in Shela on the intervening night of July 20 and 21, around 11km from Moti Devati. Forest teams had searched the area and deployed cages and thermal drones but could not locate the animal.
