Mumbai: How these rescuers thought like a leopard to trap the big cat

Few creatures are sneakier than a leopard but you can count the Thane forest officials among them Days after a chawl resident in Marol spotted a leopard snoozing on his bed the forest department and volunteers managed to rescue the big cat in the dead of night without the locals even figuring out what was happening The operation was so smooth and swift they didnt even have to use a tranquilliserThe rescuers realised the leopard went to the abandoned factory just before daybreak every dayThe leopard was rescued in the wee hours of Thursday from an abandoned factory in Marol where it had been hanging out for the last few days The factory shares a boundary wall with the Halimabai Chawl where the animal was first spotted by a resident on Saturday It was around 330 am and I was going up to my firstfloor room When I climbed up the steps I was shocked to see a leopard on my bed The leopard got startled and fled through a small opening between my house and the adjacent public toilet said the resident who did not wish to be namedThe forest department wildlife activists and volunteers worked together to safely rescue the leopardDensely populatedThe Thane Forest Department Territorial sent a team there within the hour along with Aarey volunteers monitoring leopard activity in Aarey Milk Colony Immediately they knew that the biggest challenge before them was to rescue the leopard before any mananimal conflict could take place in the densely populated locality The rescuers launched a massive secret operation to capture the big cat ensuring that the locals never got wind of what was happeningOn Saturday a resident of the Halimabai Chawl climbs up to his firststorey room only to spot a leopard snoozing on his bed IllustrationRavi JadhavMayur Kamath honorary wildlife warden of Mumbai discussed the matter with Deputy Conservator of Forest Dr Jitendra Ramgaonkar and Range Forest Officer Santosh Kank and they agreed to bring in biologist Nikit Surve and his team to track the leopard s movement via camera traps After placing cameras around the chawl on Saturday the team inspected the adjoining factory compound on Sunday They found pugmarks as well as claw marks on the wallsThe leopard flees and the man calls the forest department Officials immediately realise the danger posed by the big cat in such a crowded localityCaught on cameraMore cameras were installed there The images confirmed that this three to fouryearold male leopard was the same one that had been sighted in Aarey Colony two months ago Within two days the team recognised a pattern mdash every day the leopard would enter the factory around 430 spend the hot days chilling in the shade before finally coming out at 7308 pmForest officers search for the leopard at the chawl as well as the adjoining abandoned factory They instruct the locals to be careful and keep the leopard sighting to themselvesThe multiple cameras also gave the rescuers an insight into the paths the leopard was using On Tuesday they installed a trap cage near the abandoned factory They had also installed one near the chawl earlier but no activity was reported there Their efforts at the factory paid off though when the leopard walked into the second cage around 3 am on ThursdayThey set up 10 camera traps around the chawl and the factory to monitor the animals movement They recognise the leopard from past sightings in the nearby Aarey Colony03Age of the male leopard in years10Number of camera traps set upThe researchers realise that the leopard has a set pattern he uses the same routes and enters the factory at daybreak every day They set up a trap cage accordingly2No of trap cages installed5No of days leopard was monitored45 minsTime taken to move the leopard after captureAt 3 am on Thursday the leopard walks into the cage lured by a chicken kept inside The officials and volunteers immediately move the big cat to SGNP in BorivliAlso ReadMumbai Leopard Cub At SGNP Wildly Confuses Officials