A leopard prowled through the New Baneshwor neighbourhood before entering a private property, causing panic among people almost throughout the day on Saturday. 

The female wild cat which was first spotted on the premises of Janata Bank in New Baneshwor in the morning had entered the house of Hemraj Bhandari.

The family members, however, managed to lock the toilet where the uninvited guest had entered.

A team of veterinarians from the Central Zoo in Jawalakhel later reached Bhandari’s house and tranquilised the wild beast before rescuing it. 

Sarita Jnawali, Project Manager at the Central Zoo, said the wild cat might have wandered off from a forest in the night and could have arrived in the concrete jungle. “It is possible that the leopard came out of her habitat looking for food,” said Jnawali, adding that leopards were found to have sneaked into human settlements in some parts of Bhaktapur and Lalitpur in the past as well.

Conservationists have long been raising the issue of human encroachment on habitats of wild animals. 

Increasing number of sightings of big cats in city areas is an indication that humans are encroaching on wild animal habitats, due to which there is food source loss in balding forests and wild animals are forced to come out of their habitats. 

In May 2014, police had to shoot a leopard dead in Kapan, Kathmandu, after it attacked two persons. 

According to Deputy Superintendent of Police Dan Bahadur Karki, chief of Metropolitan Police Range, Hanumandhoka, the leopard was later left in Shivapuri forest on the northern fringes of Kathmandu.