India, Dec. 2 -- Following the confirmed leopard sightings near Pune airport and in Aundh, the forest department has been inundated with leopard sighting calls from residents, close to 90% of which turn out to be false alarms - either mistaken claims; or images and videos generated using artificial intelligence (AI).

A senior forest official said, "Until recently, we would receive around 10 calls a week, and most of them were genuine. But over the past few days, the number has shot up to nearly 40 calls a day. Close to 90% of these calls turn out to be false alarms - either mistaken claims; or images and videos generated using artificial intelligence. Yet every alert must be verified, and that has created tremendous pressure on our teams...