THANE: Almost two weeks after a 6-year-old leopard was rescued from the residential Samata Nagar area, the forest department conducted an awareness drive for the residents of Wimbledon Park Society here as well as the staffers of the neighbouring commercial establishments on Sunday morning.On February 20, an adult male leopard was found loitering in the basement of a mall here after which it was sighted near the Wimbledon society before finally being rescued in a risky operation from the basement of a hotel near the society.As the wild cat was spotted in this region for the first time, the team of volunteers working with the forest department for their man-animal coexistence project set up a meeting with the residents of the area as well as those working here to inform them about the dos and don’ts of living in proximity to the wildlife “As the people in this region are not used to leopard sightings, we conducted a session on living in coexistence. We educated them about leopards, their traits, diet, territories, and so on. We told them to take precautions like putting up bright lights, making their presence known through noises and keeping their area garbage free,” said Sonu Singh, a Mumbaikars for SGNP member who led the session.“We also informed them about conflict resolution tips like lifting up their children in case a leopard shows up and trying to appear taller and not running away till the wild cat passes,” Singh added.From precautionary measures like keeping their vicinities garbage free and brightly lit to conflict management tips like lifting children up and staying still in times of leopard sightings. Over 70 people were educated about ways of living with the leopard in this session led by the 'Mumbaikars for SGNP' social group.While the residents here were initially uncertain about the use of these sessions, they are now advising other societies to host similar events at their complexes as well.“The general consensus before the session was that any tips would be pointless when we actually face the wild cat. However, we are glad that we had it because we are no longer oblivious to the traits of the leopard. While we already keep our area waste and stray free and our society is brightly lit, we now know what to do, and more importantly what not to do, if we come across a leopard,” said Kishor Naik, secretary of Wimbledon Park society.

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