KOLHAPUR: A dog was killed by a leopard at the Panhala fort area in Kolhapur district late on Saturday night.
According to locals, they spotted the big cat in residential area near the fort few days ago. Since then, officials of the forest department started night patrolling to push the wild animal away and avoid any conflict with the locals. Despite all these efforts, a dog owned by Dr Raj Holkar, was attacked by the leopard. The attack was recorded on the closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera installed outside Holkar's house.
Speaking to TOI, Holkar said, "My house is near the Tabak Udyan of the fort and is completely surrounded by the forest. Wild animals frequently visit the locality. I have spotted leopards several times and they have attacked my pets on numerous occasions during night."
The incident has shocked the residents near Panhala fort.
The number of people coming to Panhala has also gone down since spotting of the leopard in the past few days.
Forester Vijay Date said, "As per our knowledge, leopards are spotted rarely near the fort. Several smaller animals found in the jungle are the main food of the leopards. Since this leopard was spotted, we had started night patrolling with the help of local residents. We have appealed to the locals to not panic and inform the forest department when they spot the big cat."
