Mangaluru : A leopard was spotted by some people at Bangla Gudde near Polali Dwara on the outskirts of the city on the Mangaluru-Moodbidri Road on Friday evening.

Bajpe police said that they got telephone calls from some people. In the neighbouring Gurupura, the police made an announcement in the night asking residents not to send their children out.

A Forest Department official told that a leopard had been doing the rounds within a 30-km radius of the city for the past one month.

It was moving around Moodbidri, Mulki, Kateel, Kandavara, Polali, Kenjar and MRPL areas.

The department has kept a cage near Polali Dwara and another one near MRPL to trap it. Orders have been placed for one more cage.

The official maintained that the animal was very smart and never camped at a particular area. Hence, the officials were finding it difficult to trap it.

There were reports about the animal taking away dogs. It has not harmed any human being so far, official said.