Wild Leopard causes brief shut down Nepal International airport

A wild leopard briefly shut down Nepal’s only international airport on Monday, prompting officials to launch a search for the animal.

The big cat was spotted by a pilot of a private airline on the runway, which led to the shutdown of the airport for about 15 minutes, said Prem Nath Thakur, a spokesperson for the Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu.

“We are trying to capture the animal after it entered the drains.

“We have mobilised a total of 50 people including firefighters, security forces and wildlife officials,’’ Thakur told dpa.

Although the flights at the airport have resumed but the leopard is still on the loose.

The big cats such as the Leopard are mostly found in protected areas in the country’s southern plains and northern hills, but in recent months they have sparked alarm by straying into human settlements, which experts attribute to the loss of their habitat due to deforestation.

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In early February, police and zoo officials tracked a wild leopard on the outskirts of Kathmandu, tranquilized and transported it to a zoo.

Two weeks after this incident, another leopard wandered into a densely populated neighborhood just across the airport, climbed a tree and left after spending the night.

There is a forest close to the international airport’s northern edges.