Leopard spotted roaming on sets in Mumbai's Film City

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A leopard was spotted moving on the sets of a studio at Film City in suburban Goregaon the previous night after which a partially eaten carcass of a dog was discovered that created panic among workers and staff around, a Maharashtra forest department official said on Monday. After the incident of Sunday night came to light, multiple teams of officials visited the site and evaluated the situation, said Pawan Sharma, founder and president of RAWW (Resqink Association for Wildlife Welfare) who is also an honorary wildlife warden with the state forest department.

Workers and other staff of the sets panicked due to the attack on the dog, he said. A video of the leopard roaming on the sets in Film City has surfaced on social media. The sprawling Film City, a tourist attraction, is located on the boundary of the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP), which is home to leopards, and also abuts the Aarey Milk Colony, a forest area within Mumbai. "We will be regularly patrolling the premises. As of now the situation is under control. However, since leopards share common spaces with humans it is important to be alert and aware and follow necessary advisory and instructions from the forest department," said Sharma.

He said the leopard that entered the Film City sets appeared to be in search of easy prey. "Dogs are easy to hunt as compared to wild prey. Also, due to increase in cover of grass and shrubs wild prey species are comparatively difficult to kill," said Sharma. The forest department along with wildlife volunteers will install camera traps to track movement of big cats, said the official. "People should walk in groups, must not venture alone in the dark near forested patches, use a torch while walking with mobile radio on so that if there is a wild animal around, it moves away as it's their natural instinct to avoid any conflict," Sharma said.

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