Lucknow, November 16: A two-year-old male leopard was found dead in Lucknow after the big cat was apparently hit by a heavy vehicle in a first-of-its-kind incident in a busy area of the city, said officials. Locals raised concern over the presence of a wild animal near a residential/commercial pocket of the city. A leopard straying on to a busy road after crossing residential and commercial pockets was a rare occurrence, said forest officials.

Primary investigations revealed that the leopard wandered from its natural habitat and accidentally came in front of a heavy vehicle that caused fatal injuries. The police control room received a call that an injured leopard was lying on Shaheed Path, said Ravi K. Singh, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO). Leopard Shot Dead in Bengaluru: Big Cat Wandering in Bommanahalli Industrial Area Dies After Shots Fired To Neutralise It (Watch Video).

The forest department lodged a case and the carcass was sent to the Lucknow Zoo for a post-mortem examination. “The leopard’s body bore multiple injury marks that suggested it was hit by a heavy vehicle causing death due to multiple injuries,” said Dr Utkarsh Shukla, zoo veterinarian, who led the post-mortem team.

In the past, many leopard sightings had been reported from the Jankipuram area of the city. In CCTV footages, the animals were seen moving around homes in colonies at midnight. Leopard Attack in Uttar Pradesh: Big Cat Attacks Brothers, Beaten to Death by Villagers in Bijnor.

“The animal might have lost its way and got disoriented due to excessive noise on the busy road, leading to the accident,” said Rupak De, former principal chief conservator of forest, UP. Officials said the stretch along Shaheed Path and some pockets in Jankipuram were natural habitats of animals in the past where houses had come up.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 16, 2023 09:47 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).