Mumbai: Leopard Enters School Near Aarey At Night, Gets Trapped Inside Washroom, Rescued
A leopard that strayed into a school in Mumbai and got trapped inside a washroom on Tuesday night was successfully rescued.
The leopard had entered a school in Bimbisar Nagar area of Goregaon (east) near the Aarey forest.
It was first spotted by a security guard, who alerted the authorities.
After receiving a distress call, the Mumbai range rescue team of the Thane forest department and a team from Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) rescued the big cat?early in the day.
Volunteers from Wildlife Welfare Association also took part in the operation.
The leopard was hiding in the washroom of the school.
Same leopard was caught in 2020
The animal was tranquilised before being rescued from the premises, as redirecting it to the forests was not possible.
The leopard was later shifted to SGNP Leopard Rescue Center for medical examination before being released into the wild.
According to Forest officials, the leopard had a microchip implanted on its body and was the same big cat rescued from Yeoor forest, Thane, in March 2020.
It is believed that the leopard could have left the forest in search of dry land due to water logging in its habitat.
"There is forest-like vegetation nearby. The leopard entered the school campus last night and got confined in a washroom. We have rescued the leopard," Girija Desai, a Forest Official, told ANI.
Mumbai's growing leopard population
Earlier this year, a study by the Wildlife Conservation Society (India), Wildlife Institute of India, and the Maharashtra forest department found that Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) had the highest documented density of leopards in the world, at about 26/100km2.
SGNP is a 100 sq km urban forest reserve and home to over 40 resident leopards.
The availability of prey, including wild and domestic animals, was said to be the reason behind the growth of the leopard population there.
The study found that more than 30 percent of the diet of leopards in SGNP consists of domestic dogs.
Residents living in proximity to SGNP have had close encounters with these elusive big cats.?
Leopard attacks on humans
Last year the Aarey forest, abutting SGNP and spread across 3,166 acres had seen a series of leopard attacks on humans.
Earlier this year, the Forest Department, the Wildlife Conservation Society-India and Wildlife SOS, had radio-collared three leopards to study their behaviour.
For more on news, sports, and current affairs from around the world, please visit?Indiatimes News.
