Chandigarh,  With the prevailing eerie silence in Chandigarh owing to the curfew to limit the spread of coronavirus, a leopard from the nearby Sukhna Wildlife Sanctuary entered the city in the wee hours of Monday and was spotted in a plush Sector 5 residential area, police said.

It was spotted at 8.15 a.m. and subsequently locals alerted the local police and the Wildlife Department.

"We called wildlife staff and efforts are on to cage the animal," Station House Officer Jaspal Singh told the media.

A few days back, sambars were spotted in residential areas located close to the sanctuary. They were caught on cameras by locals as they were roaming fearlessly.

The Sukhna Wildlife Sanctuary, adjoining rainfed Sukhna Lake, spreads over 25.42 sq km. It is home to a variety of butterflies, birds and mammals like the wild boar, pangolin, mongoose, deer and the Indian civet, besides snakes like the Indian python and Russell's viper.