Maharashtra forest dept goof-up! SNGP is home to African lion, jaguar

The leopard

Animal conservationists in the city were surprised when the Maharashtra Forest Department shared a picture collage of the rich and varied wildlife present at Borivli's Sanjay Gandhi National Park on Twitter recently.

If the tweet is to be believed, the park is home to jaguars and African lions. While this is far from the truth, the real inhabitant - the leopard - is missing.

The ill-informed tweet, they said, smacks of ignorance on part the state's apex forest body.

How they got it wrong
On August 21, @MahaForest - the official twitter handle of the Maharashtra Forest Department - tweeted a collage of 16 pictures, captioning it Animals at Sanjay Gandhi National Park. The collage shows the four-horned antelope, jaguar, hyena and African lion, among the animals residing at the park.

The collage tweeted by the Maharashtra Forest Department, on August 21

While the jaguar looks a lot like the leopard, it is not native to India. The spots found on a jaguar are different from the rosette pattern, a rose-like formation, found on the leopard.

Also, while there have been records of hyenas being found at SGNP that date back 20 years, with no recent evidence of the same. Wildlife researchers involved in the camera-trapping exercise at SGNP, have also confirmed the fact. And then the final blunder - tigers and lions portrayed as residents of SGNP.

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The big cats don't live in the wild at SGNP and are kept in closed enclosures for public viewing as part of the SGNP safari. The lion in the collage is an African lion, and not the Asian lion, native to Gir forest and currently, in captivity at the park.

Fortunately, the collage got a few inmates right. These include the spotted deer, Indian hare, black-naped monarch, flying fox, Indian porcupine, sambar and langur.

'It was a mistake'
When contacted, an official from the department, who did not wish to be named, said, "The jaguar picture is an error; it looks very similar to the leopard. The person handling the official account of state Forest Department should have been more careful."

Mumbai-based wildlife researcher Rajesh Sanap, said, "The SGNP has rich biodiversity, but this collage is misleading and ridden with errors. Before tweeting the picture, the person assigned the job of looking after the handle should have cross-checked with a wildlife expert. It's the perfect way to spread misinformation among the public."

Despite attempts, State Forest Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar and Forest Secretary Vikas Kharge were unavailable for comment.

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Not the first time
On October 15, 2013, mid-day had reported that the Thane forest department had put up posters in Aarey Milk Colony, listing precautions that resi­de­nts should take in case of man-leopard conflict. The images us­ed for representation was that of a cheetah, now extinct in India