Locals, forest officials spooked after 2 leopards spotted near SGNP

Two leopards that were sighted at Rushivan in Borivali (east), on the periphery of Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP), around 8 pm on Sunday have sent forest officials into a tizzy and perturbed residents.

A BEST bus plies on this route, which is also used by locals till late in the evening. Incidentally, a wild cat was spotted in mid-August around 9.30 pm.

According to residents, this was the first time two leopards were seen together. “Initially, the two leopards were playing with each other, but later they climbed a wall and sat there calmly for more than an hour,” said Shiva Pal, a security guard in the area. A few residents even claimed that the two big cats were sighted on Monday morning as well.

Speaking to this newspaper, Sandip Mhapralkar, a local, said, “While many claim one is female and the other is its child, it could not be ascertained. The two did not climb down the park’s 20-foot-high wall. The situation could have turned dangerous had the leopards climbed down as a number of commuters had gathered to watch them.”

Rajesh Patil, a resident of La Vista Society in the area, said, “I was happy to see that people on Sunday followed whatever was taught by the forest officials during the awareness programme. Although the locals gathered to watch the two, they stood still and did not irk the big cats by flashing lights or causing a nuisance.”

Mr Mhapralkar added: “Animals are sighted in the area, but only late at night, which makes Sunday’s sighting unusual. It is a matter of concern as a leopard was sighted around 9.30 pm on August 17, too.”

Sunish Subramanian, founder of Plant & Animals Welfare Society (Mumbai), said, “PAWS-Mumbai always urges citizens to take preventive steps in such situations. Whenever they are sighted, vicious animals should not be provoked and children especially should be kept at a distance. Especially in the isolated Rushivan area, commuting with children should be avoided late in the evenings.”

When contacted, chief conservator of forest and field director of SGNP Vikas Gupta said, “The group ‘Mumbaikars for SGNP’ has been running awareness programmes and we are monitoring the periphery of the park with camera traps.”