For the first time, full-grown male leopard caught on camera at Delhi's Yamuna Biodiversity Park

The leopard sighting has been caught on camera by scientists on Monday night while they were installing surveillance devices.

Image for representational purposes only

New Delhi: In a news that could bring some cheers to wildlife conservation efforts in the national capital, for the first time, a full-grown male leopard has been spotted at the Yamuna Biodiversity Park (YBP) in north Delhi's Wazirabad area.

As per reports, the leopard sighting has been caught on camera by scientists on Monday night while they were installing the more surveillance devices.

Scientists initiated the process following inputs from locals about the presence of the species in the riverbed.

“Though there have been claims of people seeing leopards in Delhi, this is for the first time that we have pug marks, photographs and videos of the leopard’s presence in a very long time. Even during the British rule, there was no such evidence,” said Faiyaz A Khudsar, the scientist in charge at the YBP.

It is said that leopard pugmarks were found last year at Asola Wildlife Sanctuary and a spotting was even reported in Usmanpur at the end of December 2015.

Leopards have also been spotted in the Aravali area in Delhi and outside Meerut in the past few years.

"This is a good sign and we suspect it may have become a resident animal with the habitat here more conducive. From early sightings, it appears to be a male leopard," added Khudsar.

The Yamuna Biodiversity Park spreads over an area of approximately 457 acres near Wazirabad village on the flat alluvial plains of the Yamuna. The Park also comprises a native flora and fauna which used to exist a 100 years ago and then became extinct locally.