Hans News Service Kota

Theleopard, which ventured into Chattar Villas (CV) Garden in the Nayapura area of Kota city on Tuesday, had escaped from an enclosure inside Kota Zoo, an official said on Wednesday. The leopard was rescued safely after a three-hour operation and was put under observation in Abheda Biological Park in the city, he added. The two-and-a-half-year-old female leopard -- rescued earlier from the forest and was kept in an enclosure in the zoo -- was spotted in its enclosure till Monday-Tuesday night. However, it escaped in the early morning hours on Tuesday and wandered into the CV Garden, chief conservator of forest, Mukundara Hills Tiger Reserve T Mohan Raj said. Following the escape, Raj ordered an inquiry committee headed by the DFO to submit a report within seven days, the CCF said.

Notably, panic gripped morning walkers and fitness enthusiasts in Kota on Tuesday morning after a full-grown leopard was spotted in the crowded public garden.

The park, frequented daily by local residents for yoga, exercise, and morning walks, was thrown into chaos as visitors spotted the big cat roaming through the green space.

As visitors raised shouts, the animal climbed a nearby 40-foot-high tree. Large crowds gathered outside the garden boundary as news of the wild intruder spread rapidly throughout the city, hr said. A joint emergency team comprising forest department personnel and local police cordoned off the area and successfully rescued the animal by tranquillising it atop the tree, he said.