Srinagar: The Department of Wildlife Protection Tuesday referred to the reports about the sighting of a leopard at some private school in Srinagar as ‘baseless’ and advised the public not to fall for “unreliable” sources of information that may cause panic.
A leopard was said to have been spotted at two private schools in Srinagar a day earlier, creating panic across Mala Bagh and the adjoining areas. Residents were awestruck by the visuals of a leopard uploaded on social media and claimed to have been captured from the area.
A senior wildlife official while talking to ‘Kashmir Images’ feigned total ignorance about the sighting of leopard or having issued any advisory in this regard.
There was complete panic and uncertainty among the locals as soon as the reports of leopard sightings within Kashmir Harvard and Radiant Public Schools in Mala Bagh area went viral on social media.
“We have been living under perpetual anxiety ever since the reports of a leopard having been spotted in RP and Kashmir Harvard Schools surfaced on social media. We don’t know whether the news making rounds on social media is based on facts, but we urge the authorities to ensure no lives are lost,” Suhail Ashraf, a Mala Bagh resident told ‘Kashmir Images’.
The reports of wild animal roaming in their area, he claimed, has given sleepless nights to the residents and the children have also been prevented from attending school “until the situation returns to normal”.
Talking to ‘Kashmir Images’, Regional Wildlife Warden Kashmir, Rashid Naqash ‘dispelled’ the reports about sighting of a leopard in any school around Mala Bagh as ‘baseless’.
Naqash said that as no confirmation of the sort has been made yet, no alert had been released by the authorities in this regard.
“Though I don’t believe anyone has verified the leopard sighting, the department takes precautions in case anything of the sort comes to our knowledge. I strongly refute such reports and appeal to people to not fall for unverified reports that might spread fear,” he added.
