Pune: Senior officials of the state forest department have said the leopard first sighted on the premises of the Pune airport on April 28 has not been seen after May 15 and may have left the area.The leopard confirmed as a fully grown male by the forest department was sighted multiple times at the airside, but could not be captured, chief conservator of forests, Pune, Praveen NR told TOI. “There is a chance it is not present in the area. Our teams are vigilant nevertheless and we will resume our search operations immediately if it is seen again.”On April 28, the leopard was seen first at 7am and then at 8pm near the runway. Many flyers seated in their flights had made videos of the animal sitting calmly near the runway. The sighting had triggered a massive search and capture operation. The animal was clever enough to elude the authorities for more than a month since then.“We stopped the search after launch of Operation Sindoor in early May. We resumed after the op was over, but the animal couldn’t be sighted. We are in touch with authorities of IAF and Pune airport. We have requested that they let us know if the leopard is seen again so that we can take action,” the official added.In the week leading to May 17, the forest department had intensified its efforts to rescue the leopard. The animal couldn’t be captured in any of the camera traps, but some IAF officials told forest department officials that they had spotted it on May 15.“The animal has not been seen since then. We removed the many trap cameras and cages during Operation Sindoor. It is difficult to say where the animal has gone,” another forest official said.Authorities have said the leopard was surviving on rodents and stray dogs while it roamed the premises spread over 3,500 acres.When the leopard was spotted first, the IAF spokesperson had said, “There was only one report of the leopard sighting before April 28 and it was not corroborated. We had informed forest officials, who visited the location but couldn’t find any trail leading to the leopard.”Pune airport officials said they are on alert. “Safety instructions on the leopard stand even now and a watch is kept. Any sighting will be communicated to the forest department. We cannot comment further since the airside is under IAF,” a senior airport official told TOI.Meanwhile, Vatsala Khurana, a resident of Marvel Piazza located close to the airport, told TOI, “We were scared when the leopard was spotted in April and a lot of precautions were taken. All that is behind us now and there is no fear. Life is back to normal.”A resident of another housing society located at close proximity to the airport boundary wall agreed. “We do discuss the leopard at times and wonder where it went. We have no updates from any official. We stay alert even though there is no fear any more,” he said, requesting anonymity.
