India leopard on loose causes panic in Meerut town - 24 February 2014

Panic has gripped the northern Indian town of Meerut where a leopard is on the loose, officials said. Schools and colleges are shut and a high alert has been sounded in the town, which is a two-hour drive from the capital, Delhi. The animal entered a hospital on Sunday and was locked in a room for a few hours before it escaped, reports said. Large numbers of policemen have been deployed and wildlife experts have been called in to help capture the animal. We have closed schools and colleges in the town because we are unable to locate the leopard and do not want to take any chances. This is only a precautionary measure, district magistrate Pankaj Yadav told BBC Hindi. We are yet to locate the leopard. We have got calls from some areas but are still unable to trace its exact location, district forest officer Sushant Kumar said. Officials said they were investigating reports that it had strayed into Meerut from the nearby forests. The animal was first spotted in the town on Sunday afternoon in a warehouse where it attacked and injured a man who entered the room. Later, the leopard took refuge in a nearby hospital, but escaped from the window a few hours later. Rescue teams of wildlife experts have been called in to help tranquilise and capture the animal, officials said. Wildlife experts say there are no reliable population estimates for leopards in India, but rough estimates put their number at about 10,000. Tigers and other big cats have been known to stray into populated areas and conservationists have warned that such confrontations may increase as humans encroach on animal habitats. TAGS: abc breaking news, bbc, bbc football, bbc iplayer, bbc news, bbc news america, bbc persian, bbc sport, bbc weather, bbc world news, breaking celebrity news, breaking election news, breaking late news, breaking local news, breaking music news, breaking news, breaking news alerts, breaking news canada, breaking news headlines, breaking news in atlanta, breaking news in nigeria, breaking news india, breaking news pensacola florida, breaking news plane crash, breaking news story, breaking sports news, business expensive news home media world, christian world news, cnn, cnn breaking news, cnn money, cnn news, cnn news breaking news, cnn news world, detroit breaking news, global news, headline, headline news, health care technology news, hot latest global news, internet technology news, las vegas breaking news, latest breaking news, latest celebrity news, latest information technology news, latest music news, latest news, latest news headlines, latest news update, latest sports news, live breaking news, local breaking news, local news today, msn breaking news, nbc breaking news, nbc world news, news of the world, news report us world, news today news, news updated daily, solar technology news, sports news today, technology news, the latest news, today news, us news and world, us news and world report, us news and world report magazine, us news and world report web site, us news world report, world news, world news daily, world news headlines