Big Cat Visits Area From Fbd-Gurgaon Side. A little over a century ago, Delhi’s forests were home to a large number of carnivores including lions, leopards and wolves. As forest land disappeared so did most of its animals. However, there is finally some hope that they might return. Officials have been tracking the presence of a leopard at Bhatti Mines for the past couple of months, which has possibly been visiting from adjoining Haryana. The animal has been seen on several occasions, but could not be photographed. Its pug marks, however, have been positively identified by several sources. The Bhatti area, ravaged by large scale mining till a few years back, has been revived to a considerable extent by the army’s eco-task force (ETF). Vast swathes of greenery dotted with water holes have replaced the pockmarked landscape and is already housing a huge variety of biodiversity. “The leopard has been spotted quite regularly since December, especially near the watering holes, but we have not managed to get any photographic evidence of the animal. We did photograph its pug marks. It is coming into Bhatti Mines from the Faridabad-Gurgaon side,” said Col Pradeep Sandhir, commanding officer of the ETF. WWF officials confirmed the positive identification of the pug marks. “There is a leopard population in the Aravalis and this animal is probably a vagrant from the Haryana side. It is not living in Bhatti Mines,” said an official. The presence of the leopard and a clan of hyenas, along with a whole host of birds, butterflies and reptiles indicate the successful revival of the degraded ecosystem. Sources said that with the development of Bhatti, the government needed to ensure safety of the eco-system, especially since wildlife entering the area from the Haryana side needs to cross a populated area to reach it.