Mumbai: Leopard sighting rocks Marol, camera traps set up

The area where the leopard was spotted is next to Marol police camp and a posh housing society

Marol locals were surprised to learn that a full-grown leopard had taken a stroll at Bhavani Nagar, next to Aarey Milk Colony, a few days ago. After CCTV footage of the big cat surfaced, the forest department increased patrolling and set up numerous camera traps in the area.

According to Santosh Shetty, secretary of Bhavani Nagar Cooperative Housing Federal Society, "The leopard was initially seen in CCTV footage at 1.30 am on Tuesday, March 7. We could see it approaching plot 1 just near the entrance of Bhavani Nagar. Later, at around 2.06 am, cameras recorded a leopard at plot no 2. The animal was last seen at plot no 3 at roughly 2.10 am, at which point we lost sight of it."

He added, "As the region where the leopard is wandering is heavily populated by humans, we have notified the forest department and asked them to capture the leopard as quickly as possible. Due to the large amount of stray dogs, there are high chances that a leopard might visit our area." Several people also assert that the leopard was seen in the early hours of Thursday on one of the buildings' premises. At Bhavani Nagar, there are a total of 22 housing societies, each with between 8,000 and 9,000 residents and about 2,000 flats. On Wednesday, Surendra Patil, an official from the Thane forest department, visited the area and the building where the leopard had been sighted.

Also Read: World Wildlife Day 2023: Navi Mumbai Police nab man for hunting leopard, seizes gun and skin of big cat

Deputy Conservator of Forest (DCF) Santosh Saste has also instructed Assistant Conservator of Forest (ACF) Girija Desai to look into the matter. Range Forest Officer (RFO) Rakesh Bhoir and his team are in touch with the locals and three camera traps have been installed by volunteers Satish Lot, Wasim Athaniya and Raj Jadhav from the NGO Wildlife Welfare Association (WWA).

Forest department sources told this newspaper that the leopard captured by the CCTV cameras installed in the housing society might be from Aarey Milk Colony. The leopard will be identified once the forest department manages to get its hands on pictures from the camera traps that have been installed. The area where the leopard was spotted is next to Marol police camp and a posh housing society. The area is connected to Aarey Milk Colony and the forest and the animal might have been using the existing corridor to travel between Aarey and Marol.