Leopard rescued from Maharashtra's Bhayandar East to be fitted with radio collar before release

The leopard rescued from Bhayandar East on Friday after it entered a housing society and attacked multiple people will be fitted with a radio collar and subsequently released back into its natural habitat the director and conservator of forests at Sanjay Gandhi National Park SGNP told middayOn Saturday Minister of Forest Ganesh Naik accompanied by local MLA Narendra Mehta visited the area where the attacks occurred and later met those injured at a hospital A forest department source had at the time said that the minister indicated that the leopard may be fitted with a radio collar to monitor its movement after it is released into its natural habitatA forest department team along with a veterinarian fits a radio collar on a leopard PICSBY SPECIAL ARRANGEMENTNaik Mehta and Minister of Transport Pratap Sarnaik mdash who was present at the spot during the rescue operation mdash also instructed the MBMC and police to scan CCTV footage in the area to check the possible route or area from where this leopard might have reached the densely populated location Mumbai has one of the highest leopard densities in the world yet reports of humanwildlife conflict remain remarkably lowFive leopards radiocollaredAim of the studygtgt From August 2020 to August 2022 the Maharashtra forest department and Wildlife Conservation Society WCSIndia carried out a joint research project on leopards For the first time radio telemetry was used in two phases to study the secretive cats in an urban landscapeThe batteryoperated collar will send the leopardrsquos movement signals to a satellite which will send location coordinates at regular intervals Researchers will track the leopardrsquos location on computer screens and on cellular devices using software that will help track its movements and understand dispersal patterns particularly whether such animals are moving in search of new territoriesgtgt The project by Dr Vidya Athreya and Nikit Surve from WCSIndia aimed to understand leopardhuman interactions in the city and also examined how leopards use space and time within the SGNP landscape Another key focus was tracking how the big cats cross major roadsOutcome of studygtgt Leopardesses have a smaller home range compared to their male counterparts A home range refers to the area in which an animal lives and moves on a periodic basisTracking the leopardrsquos movement using VHF antennas will help researchers and officials see if the animal is moving close to human habitation whether it is more active during the day or at night and whether it crosses roads highways or creeks while wanderinggtgt The smallest home range recorded for an adult female was 258 sq km while the largest for an adult male was 8426 sq kmThe discoveryMumbairsquos history with radiocollared leopards goes back ten years when Ajoba a radiocollared male leopard from Malshej Ghat walked approximately 120 km and reached SGNPForest officials say collaring will help understand how leopards are using the landscape so that longterm conservation and management strategies can be planned IllustrationsUday MohiteVoicesAnita Patil SGNP director and conservator of forestslsquoThanks to the coordinated efforts of the SGNP team the Thane forest department territorial police officials from MiraBhayandar the MBMC MiraBhayandar Municipal corporation team and local NGOs the leopard was rescued from a densely populated area As per the directions of the forest minister it has been decided to fit the leopard with a radio collar so that its movements can be monitoredafter it is released back into its natural habitatrsquoDr Jitendra Ramgaonkar chief conservator of forests wildlife WestlsquoIt is unusual for such a rescue to take place from a highly dense humandominated landscape The main objective behind collaring this leopard is to understand how leopards in Mumbai use and move through the landscape particularly younger and dispersing individuals Once we have detailed movement data it will help the forest department identify patterns prevent similar humanwildlife conflict incidents in the future and plan better longterm conservation and management strategiesrsquoDr Nikhil Bangar SGNP veterinarianlsquoBhayandar East is a densely builtup humandominated area making the rescue extremely challenging and risky What worked in our favour was disciplined planning and calm teamwork Civilian access was completely stopped and only essential forest police and fire personnel were allowed inside the building The old structure had narrow passages and hidden corners and the leopard finally took refuge in a bathroom where darting was difficult due to the confined space After securing all escape routes we immobilised and rescued the animalrsquo