On Saturday, the Odisha forest department initiated a search operation at Biju Patnaik International Airport after a report surfaced of a leopard sighting near the airport’s dump yard. The operation was triggered by a claim from a woman, an employee at the dump yard, who stated she had spotted the big cat in the area.
Forest officials, along with local police, quickly mobilized to investigate the situation, bringing nets, traps, and other equipment. However, their extensive search yielded no evidence of a leopard, revealing only pug marks of a jackal.
In an effort to monitor any potential leopard activity, forest officials set up trap cameras and placed cages with chickens as bait, anticipating that a leopard might return for a meal. Despite these proactive measures, no leopards were captured, leading officials to suspect that the initial sighting was likely a misidentification of a wild cat.
Radhakanta Hota, the local range officer, addressed the public’s concerns, urging them to disregard the rampant social media rumors regarding the leopard sighting. “We have not found any signs of a leopard here. The trap cameras have only captured images of a wild cat. Experts will verify the footage to confirm if it’s a wild cat or another species,” Hota explained.
This incident follows a similar occurrence in 2019, when a leopard was successfully captured at the airport and later released in the nearby Chandaka forest. Authorities remain vigilant, particularly given the heightened security concerns related to the airport.
Additionally, on the same day as the leopard sighting report, both Biju Patnaik International Airport and Veer Surendra Sai Airport at Jharsuguda received hoax bomb threats regarding two different flights, further complicating the day’s operations. Fortunately, these threats were also determined to be unfounded.
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