Foresters can’t bell wild cats

PANCHKULA: The elusive leopard family that was spotted at the Mansa Devi temple twice in last week continues to elude forest officials. A team of forest officials went into nearby forest on Sunday night to search for wild cats but failed to find them.
“Our team carried out the search operation in dense forests from 7pm to 1am on Sunday night but could not find anything,” said district forest officer (DFO) R K Sharma.He added, “Our team has decided to spend a few more nights there at different timings.”
One of the forest officials even heard the roar during the operation but even then the team failed to spot it.
On Saturday, the security guards on night duty had spotted the leopard with her two cubs. When police was called, cops saw the trio sitting in forest behind the temple. Earlier on Thursday too, when temple priest had just finished his evening prayers when he spotted the big cat.
It was even seen by the guards late in the night on Thursday.
“Even on Thursday night when this incident had come to light, we carried out a search operation till 3.30am but did not find the animal. Now even I’ll be going to the forest,” added the officer.
The leopard ‘sightings’ at the shrine’s doorstep have caused a scare among devotees.“It seems the animal is playing hide and seek with us. It roars once and then goes all quiet. It’s a nice vacation for the leopard family,” said another officer.
The chief executive officer (CEO) of the temple, D P Dattana, however feels that there is no leopard family on the prowl, and all that’s out there is a pig or a dog.