Kanpur (UP), Nov 29 (IANS): An adult leopard has been caught on CCTV camera, strolling in the campus of the Vikramajit Singh Sanatan Dharma degree college (VSSD) in Kanpur.

The CCTV footage from Saturday night, has been shared by the college authorities with the district administration after which the Forest Department has swung into action.

People had been alerted and asked not to panic.

The college is situated in the thickly populated Nawabganj area of the city and this is the first time that an incident of a wild animal entering the residential pocket has been recorded.

Divisional Forest Officer Arvind Yadav said that traps have been laid to capture the leopard successfully and baits have been placed.

"Our teams are combing in the area. We are sure of capturing it sooner or later. Normally, leopards are shy animals and do not attack until disturbed," he said.

He added that the forest department had received the permission to tranquilise the wild cat and the department teams were making efforts to either trap it or else tranquilise it.

Kanpur Zoo doctor Mohammad Nasir said that this leopard is an adult, aged around 5-6 years and is probably a female. He said that he also came across a carcass of a dog in the area which indicates that this leopard had preyed on the canine.

"Leopards hunt during the night time and it is only then they move out of their hideout. It appears we shall be able to capture it during the night. It had eaten up a dog and some other dogs of the area were also missing. It seems, the missing dogs fell prey to this leopard. It also means that this leopard would have been hiding in the same area for some time now and would have hunted dogs," he added.