How leopard trekked down from woods to mall

  • | Wednesday | 20th February, 2019

Starting its day out at a food manufacturing facility, it visited a mall, took a stroll of a residential complex and eventually landed in a hotel, before its luck ran out. This added to the rescue team's problems. Soon, a rescue team of 50, including wildlife experts, SGNP officials, and police and fire brigade personnel, arrived and started a combing operation. We have embedded a microchip to track his movements hereafter," Dr Pethe said.The episode has left forest officials and locals baffled. As Dr Pethe, who was at that door, spotted the leopard, he shot a tranquilizer dart," said wildlife rescuer Pawan Sharma.

A leopard, on the prowl in a Thane colony early on Wednesday morning, spent a few hours taking in the sights, including a mall and a hotel, before being cornered and tranquilised. Believed to have trekked down along a nullah from the national park, the big cat prowled around for six hours while the forest authorities ensured the public was kept away. Starting its day out at a food manufacturing facility, it visited a mall, took a stroll of a residential complex and eventually landed in a hotel, before its luck ran out."It is a full-grown adult which probably stepped out of the forest for the first time as he was not micro-chipped," said SGNP veterinarian Dr Shailesh Pethe.For the authorities, the action began at 6am when the forest department received a distress call from Korum Mall in Thane's Samata Nagar that a leopard had been sighted in its parking lot. Soon, a rescue team of 50, including wildlife experts, SGNP officials, and police and fire brigade personnel, arrived and started a combing operation."We formed two teams. While one searched the mall, the other went to the Jewish cemetery close by, as we suspected it to be a perfect escape spot for the wild cat," said deputy conservator of forests (Thane) Jitendra Ramgaonkar. "Sometime later, around 8am, we received a call from the nearby Wimbledon Park residential complex. The leopard had reached there."By the time the teams reached the complex, the animal had wandered away. While a search mission continued in the complex's vicinity, the teams learnt from locals that the leopard could be on the premises of the nearby Satkar Residency hotel. Reaching the hotel around 8:30am, they found the leopard in its basement. The hotel is about 1km from Korum Mall. By then, news about the leopard had spread like wildfire , with hundreds thronging Pokhran Road to catch a glimpse of the big cat. This added to the rescue team's problems."As a crowd had gathered, the leopard must have sensed danger. At the hotel, we found him hiding in the small, dark electric motor room at the entrance of the basement," said Ramgaonkar.The room had two doors. "We took position in two teams. One team lit crackers at the first door, compelling the animal to emerge from the second door. As Dr Pethe, who was at that door, spotted the leopard, he shot a tranquilizer dart," said wildlife rescuer Pawan Sharma. "The dart hit the animal on the thigh. The effect was immediate on the 50kg, 6-year-old leopard. It was 11am and he lay in front of us, sedated."The leopard was put on a stretcher and put in a cage a little before noon."It took us 40 minutes from the hotel to the cage kept outside it as a crowd of at least 200 hindered us. This was the most chaotic rescue I have ever been part of," said wildlife warden Pawan Sharma.The animal was finally taken to the SGNP's veterinary centre for medical tests. "He is healthy and not dehydrated or starved. We have embedded a microchip to track his movements hereafter," Dr Pethe said.The episode has left forest officials and locals baffled. How did the leopard stray so deep into the city? The SGNP boundary is 2km from the area the animal was found. "Though leopards travel fast, this one strayed further than leopards usually do," said a forest official.

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