Close leopard sightings at Shankar tekdi, residents in fear again!

 Close leopard sightings at Shankar tekdi, residents in fear again!

Author: Pawan Sharma

It was another ordinary evening for the residents of Shankar tekdi in Mulund, which changed into a fearful night after a leopard was spotted very near to the hutments there.

12/7/2014 A leopard was spotted by the residents of Shankar tekdi which reminded them of the horrifying nights of July 2012 when Sanjana Thorat was killed in a leopard attack while she had stepped out of her house to attend a natures call.

On interacting with the residents we understood that the sightings of leopards are regular in the area, but this time the big cat was too near. A distress call was reported to the control room of the police department which soon intimated the SGNP (Sanjay Gandhi National Park) control room. A distress call was also reported to the territorial wing of the Thane forest department.

Soon the rescue team of SGNP with volunteers of RAWW (Resqink Association for Wildlife) reached the location and started interaction with the residents. The residents were made aware of certain things that they should take care of so as to avoid any conflict with the big cat.

The residents are used to spot leopards but were worried because this time the leopard was behaving very bold and was not much worried with the presence of humans who were observing it.  "The leopards which we saw earlier was shy and used to vanish in the bushes as we used to make each other alert. But this leopard was not much surprised and was observing us while walking on its way" said a resident of Shankar tekdi.

Shankar tekdi is an encroached land, relocation of the residents to another area had started but is at the speed of the tortoise. Not much details of the progress of the human rehabilitation is available. Garbage management is still a problem there, as the residents dump the waste close to their houses. The dog population at Shankar tekdi has gone down as maximum dogs of the area are hunted down by the big cats but a very large population exists in the surrounding areas. However a larger population of rodents are found there which also are a part of the big cats diet.

Leopard sightings at the periphery of the national park is very common at Mulund side. There are many slums and societies with a very healthy/high population of strays which are proved to be easy prey for leopards. However it is a misconception that the leopards come out of the park because there is no food in the national park. Over the years due to human activities mainly encroachment forest area has reduced and so is the natural prey base at the periphery. The frequent sightings and attacks on dogs indicate that the big cat is trying to maintain its declining territory for its survival.

Our Voices

"The rains have just begun properly and the grass and bushes at Shankar tekdi have just started growing big and dense. We have started our survey and awareness on man- leopard conflicts. We will be interacting with the residents making them aware of certain things which they can follow so as to avoid any kind of conflict with the big cats" said Chinmay Joshi, core team member at RAWW.

"The surveys have already started with some awareness, it will be in full swing after our team selects the locations. We will first be starting with the areas where conflicts have already taken place" said Adwait Jadhav, another core team member at RAWW.