Mumbai: Alas, leopard roaming in Vasai has been captured

Leopard roaming in Vasai was captured after 25-day search operation/ Hanif Patel

The male leopard, which was first sighted at the remains of an Indo-Portuguese fort on March 29 in Vasai and triggered panic among residents, has been caught by the joint efforts of the Maharashtra Forest department, wildlife NGOs and researchers in the wee hours of Tuesday.

The officials had installed multiple trap cameras to monitor the movement of the leopard, which initially survived on the stray dogs but, later, it is believed that the big cat was surviving on rodents that are found abundant in the fort.

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Sources said that the authorities concerned had installed two cages at different locations in the Vasai Fort area to trap the wild cat.

Sources within the department told mid-day that they had to realign the cages which they had installed on the premises of majestic Vasai Fort, ‘and this helped us in catching the leopard on the 25th day,' said a source.

After the wild cat was imprisoned, it was taken to the Range Forest Office (RFO) in Mandvi, Virar East where its medical tests were conducted.

Thousands of local fishing communities had been facing difficulties after the first leopard sighting near Vasai Fort, as the authorities concerned had barricaded all the exits to restrict public movement for 12 hours after 7 pm. The recently launched RoRo boat services - connecting Vasai and Bhayandar via sea- were also impacted as the Vasai fort road leading to Vasai jetty was barricaded in the evening.

Of late, the leopard was mostly seen near the creek side of the fort and the wildlife researchers believe that it might be eating crabs, fish and other aquatic animals found near the thick mangrove forest.