The workers at the Gokulnagar Tea Estate in Tripura were terrified when leopard footprints were discovered on Saturday morning.

According to local sources, when an ex-employee of Sepahijala Wildlife Sanctuary and one of the tea estate workers arrived at the tea estate, which is only a few kilometres away from the Sanctuary, he noticed the footmarks. The tea estate’s manager rushed to the scene after hearing the alarm and alerted police and forest officials.

The ex-employee said “I served food to the leopards inside their iron cage during my service at Sepahijala Wildlife Sanctuary. I had good experience about the leopards and tigers and can easily identify their footmarks. A leopard had surely passed through this path”.

The manager said “Workers in this tea estate are frightened. The Forest department officials are conducting search operations in the adjoining areas”.

Senior Forest Guard Tapan Kumar Nandi led a team from Sepahijala’s Charilam Forest unit in a search of the entire area as well as suspected hiding places for such animals.

Speaking to reporters, Nandi said “Chances are very rare for movement of leopard in this area. May be the workers have mistaken the footprints. Our observation depicts that the footmark could be of wild cat or civet. Here in this location, civets are found in large numbers as this animal prey on village livestock.”

Our entire staff is scared. We can’t put their safety in jeopardy. Officials from the Forest Department are undertaking search operations in the surrounding areas to see if the estate is resistant to wild animal attacks, according to the management. In response to an inquiry, he stated that he was unaware of any encounters of the large cats in the area.

Senior Forest Guard Tapan Kumar Nandi headed a team from Charilam Forest Unit that combed the whole region as well as suspected hiding locations for such animals. “Leopard mobility is quite unlikely in this area.” I believe the tea estate employees mistook the footsteps for leopard tracks. It may be a wild cat or a civet, based on our observations. Civets are plentiful here, and they often prey on village animals,” Nandi said. However, the hunt continues, and activity at the tea estate has been halted for the day.

For more Latest News Updates visit our website- https://www.eastnews.in/

For Arunachal Latest News updates Visit- https://www.eastnews.in/arunachal-pradesh-news/