After Infosys campus, leopard suspected to be on the prowl near apartment complex in Mysuru

Forest department monitors Mysuru apartment complex for elusive leopard suspected to be in the area, a month after being spotted at Infosys campus.

The forest department, still recouping from the wild goose chase to track a leopard on the Infosys campus in January, is now keeping an eye on an apartment complex for the elusive spotted cat suspected to be lingering in the area.

The authorities received a complaint from the residents living in the apartment complex on the KRS Road about the movement of the leopard.

K.N. Basavaraj, Deputy Conservator of Forests (Territorial), said that members of the Leopard Task Force and other staff are monitoring the situation for the last two days since they received the complaint.

Though a few pug marks have been tracked, they seem to be of stray dogs than that of the leopard, he added.

But given the sensitivity of the situation, as it is an apartment complex housing scores of people, the forest department has deployed its staff who are regularly scouring the area to identify tell-tale evidence of the leopard’s presence. Mr. Basavaraj said they are yet to deploy camera traps in the absence of credible evidence of the leopard’s presence.

The Infosys campus is not very far from the apartment complex, at least for a leopard, and hence there are speculations that the same spotted cat may be on the prowl.

The apartment complex is on the outskirts of Mysuru on the KRS Road leading to industrial area. But it also has scrub vegetation and is connected to farm lands that provide a safe passage for leopards to rural hinterland, reserve forests etc., and hence they tend to thrive in this habitat.