After dolphins, leopards have taken the state by surprise. Sighted in kandi belt, the wild cat, it was learnt, has made the area its new habitat. Sources say earlier, leopards used to come to Hoshiarpur, Garhshankar, Siswan and Pathankot in winter, from November to February, as the hilly regions became sparse in prey. But they had never made the region their habitat. Leopards have been here for about a year, says Satinder Singh, Siswan range officer, adding, "This is a recent phenomenon. We have seen pugmarks of leopards and a cub.' Satinder's colleague inspector Balwinder Singh chimes in, "This time, the wild cats came but never returned. It is not just the leopards, but the number of sambhars and deer has also increased in the forest area. The kandi area abounds in prey for the leopards, besides it is safe a habitat.' The man-animal conflicts have increased in Himachal Pradesh, and this is also being cited as a reason for the animals' influx to Punjab. "When I was posted in Hoshiarpur, I spotted a leopard family, including two cubs, from their pugmarks near Talwara. Easy availability of prey is bringing these animals here,' says NS Randhawa, DFO (Amritsar). Sources said recently, a farmer, Jagga Singh, while grazing his cows, saw a leopard in Mirzapur, 30 kms from Chandigarh, and ran for his life. Residents of Labbar village, near Hoshiarpur, also spotted a leopard family. "Two cattle were killed by a leopard in Naranjanpur village in Pathankot and a deer was killed near Garhshankar,' says an official. Chief Conservator of Forest (Hills), Punjab, Jatinder Sharma says, "The leopards are being sighted from time to time. On March 18, when I went to Mirzapur, where forest fire was reported, my staff saw a dead deer on a tree. It was killed by a leopard, as it takes the prey to the tree.' Secretary, Forest and Wildlife, RS Nayar says, "I will comment only after I seek a report from Chief Wildlife Warden.' Sources say the Punjab government has written to the Wildlife Institute of India for a study on this new phenomenon.