How Aarey’s killer leopard was IDed

C55, one of the big cats suspected of killing the girl

The forest department has successfully trapped C57, the leopard suspected of attacking humans in Aarey, but with multiple big cats roaming in the area, the operation - which lasted 24 days - was not easy. This is the story of how various teams worked round the clock to identify the leopard that killed 16-month-old Etika Lot.

On October 24, Etika was picked up by the big cat near her house at Unit 15 at around 6 am. The girl had followed her mother, who had gone to light a diya in a nearby temple. At around 7.30 am, forest department staff and a team of volunteers checked the camera traps at Unit 15 but no picture of a leopard was captured as it might have used a different trail.

Deputy Conservator of Forest (DCF) Santosh Saste said, "At around 8 am, a local informed us about the sighting of a leopard a few hundred metres away from the attack site. Immediately, we instructed the Aarey camera trapping team's volunteers to install five camera traps in the radius of the site. At 9.30 am, the cameras were installed and 11 minutes later five images of a leopard were captured. As the leopard came very close to the camera trap, the team could only get headshots, making things challenging." Based on the database and the movement of the leopards at Unit 15, three leopards (C55, C56 and C57) were suspected to be responsible for the conflict.

Also read: 2 leopardesses trapped at Aarey Milk Colony

Leopard rescue team members from Thane and SGNP, forest department staff and volunteers strike a pose after capturing C57 at Aarey Milk Colony

The next day, a camera trap at Film City was checked, it was learnt that a suspect, C56, was camera trapped at the Conservation Education Centre (CEC) of the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) at 5.40 am on the day of the attack at Unit 15. As the CEC is located 3 km from the attack site, the involvement of C56 was ruled out, narrowing down the list of suspects to the male C55 and female C57.

On October 26, a male leopard was trapped near the animal husbandry office in Aarey and when it was identified on the basis of its right and left flanks and headshots, the animal was identified as C55. Forest department teams from Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) and the Thane and SGNP leopard rescue teams started the search to trap the leopardess. On October 30 at around 2 am, volunteer Wasim Athaniya spotted two leopards very close to the site where the girl was killed. A male leopard was later trapped at Unit 15, at around 6 am. The animal was eventually identified as LC127, which was not one of the suspects.

A volunteer from the camera trapping team said, "When the forest department officers came to Unit 15 to take away LC127, a leopardess was seen roaming in the area and multiple sightings had taken place in broad daylight. Volunteer Satish Lot and the team installed more cameras near the trap cage and captured an image of the big cat. The animal was identified as none other than C57. An image of the animal was also captured by the camera trap installed near the attack site after the incident, which also indicates that it might be behind the attack."

On November 1, a big cat was again seen in the vicinity of the trap cage at Unit 15. Between 6.30 am and 7 am, the leopard came near the cage. On the basis of camera trap photos, it was identified as C57, the prime suspect. DCF Saste told mid-day, "Following the incident of the human-leopard conflict, we had zeroed in on a female leopard, which we believe was responsible for the conflict in Aarey Milk Colony."

He added, "Due to the efforts taken by the forest department team and the volunteers, the suspected female leopard (C57) walked into the trap cage set at Unit 15 in Aarey in the wee hours of Wednesday." Assistant Conservator of Forestry (ACF) Girija Desai, Range Forest Officers Rakesh Bhoir and Vijay Barabde, along with the leopard rescue teams from Thane and SGNP with their staff were also present. The SGNP Veterinary Officer, Dr Shailesh Pethe, was also present close to the location where the leopard was trapped.

Honorary Wildlife Wardens Mayur Kamath, Rohit Mohite and Pawan Sharma and biologist Nikit Surve also played an important role in the operation. Volunteers from the Aarey camera trapping team, including Kunal Chaudhari, Imran Udat, Satish Lot, Wasim Athaniya, Hitendra Pachakale, Pushpak Tanavde, and Shahid Khan, and volunteers Raj Jadhav, Prasad Khandagale, Aditya Shinde, Sai Awade and Parag Raorane also assisted the forest department to make the operation a success.

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The day in October when Etika Lot died