Leopards increasingly enter human settlements of Kathmandu Valley

KATHMANDU, Feb 9: A leopard was spotted in Paga, a residential area of Kirtipur, early on Wednesday morning. The wild cat, obviously terrified, had barged into a house of one of the locals to hide from humans.

As soon as the news circulated in the locality, a huge number of people gathered around the area to observe the leopard. Everyone from children, youths to elderly people gathered around the house of Shree Krishna Shrestha, where the leopard was hiding. The fear and excitement were clearly noticeable on the faces of the keen onlookers.

Although the leopard was spotted at 6 am in the morning, a team of police and members of the Central Zoo and District Forest Office reached the incident site only after three hours, according to the locals. It had reportedly entered the house on Tuesday night. The team then readied themselves to control the leopard with tranquilizer.

However, the leopard continued to stay in hiding for seven hours. The patience finally paid off at 1 pm in the afternoon as the leopard was taken under control without any harm either to the people or itself. It was then taken away and later freed into its habitat.