A forest official said teams are visiting the campus for two days and checking for pug marks. “We cannot rule out the presence of leopards as the RCI campus is located on over 1000 acres of land. Shortly, camera traps will be installed and based on the outcome, if needed, cages will be set up to trap the animal,” a forest official said.

This is not the first instance where wild animals have entered Hyderabad’s outskirts. Recently, heightened deforestation and unchecked urbanisation at forest peripheries such as Keesara, Gandipet, and Shamirpet have resulted in regular leopard, wild boar, and even peacock appearances in areas with human settlements.

In 2023, a leopard was taken into custody in Rajendranagar, the outskirts of Hyderabad, after it was spotted on several occasions near a school area. A civet cat sighting was no less terrifying to residents of LB Nagar in the same year.

Experts say that reduced habitats and broken corridors are compelling wildlife towards the city for food and water. Vignyanakancha, bordering forest tracts, is still susceptible to such events.