Ghaziabad, May 22: A leopard was on Monday released into the Shivalik forest range in Uttar Pradesh's Saharanpur district after it strayed into a village here, officials said.

On Friday night, some locals of Chudiyala village in the Bhojpur area here alerted the police about a leopard sighting, following which a team of the forest department was rushed to trace the big cat, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Manish Singh said. Leopard Sighted at Ajnara Le Garden Society in Greater Noida, Rescue Operation Underway (Watch Video).

The big cat's footprints were spotted on Saturday night by three youths while returning home from their fields on a bullock cart. After a dog accompanying them went missing on the way, the trio started looking for it and found the leopard's footprints, the DFO said. Leopard Rescued From Well in Pune’s Shirur, Shifted to Rescue Centre in Junnar (Watch Video).

On Sunday morning again, locals informed officials that they sighted the leopard near a pipeline, following which a team of the forest department reached the spot and rescued the wild cat from inside the pipeline using a cage, Singh said.