Leopard sends security guard on leave ..

Leopard sends security guard on leave

Pawan Sharma @ RAWW

with Inputs from Meet Shah

Mulund, Mumbai: 

It was a experience of a life time which Mulund resident Amar Thakkar will ever forget while returning home in the night. On 1st September post mid night Thakkar a resident of Yogi hills was walking back home when he saw a security guard escaping a leopard attack.

"I was walking back to my society when I heard a man screaming loud, he soon came running towards my path and that was when I realized that he was a security guard. Just after that I saw a leopard escaping in the woods,  he soon alerted me that the same leopard was about to attack him after which we both rushed towards the society.  "

The security guard is on leave after that night and had high fever for next two days. Anybody who listens to this story will take the big cat in a bad light, but here are the facts that can help us in understanding the human errors which lead to such human leopard conflicts. The security guard had gone to relieve himself  near a dark roadside opposite to a garden connected to the forests from two sides. We cannot blame the big cat for doing that as it possible that the guard was mistaken for a animal as the area was dark and also  has a very healthy population of a leopards regular diet including strays as well as wildkinds like monkeys, langurs, pigs, dogs and cats.

Thakkar stays in the same areas since 15 years and had never encountered a big cat. He however admitted that conflicts maximum times take place because of human errors. "Such things are possible as we have entered into their homes and not they. It is our duty to manage and do things in a right way".

 The societies at Yogi hills have good infrastructure and there are toilets in every society especially for the guards in every building. The societies are just next to the national parks and the trails which leopards regularly use. So there should be some guidelines and code of conduct that residents should follow so as to safely co-exist with the wild.

The late night activities of Mumbaikars has increased with Ganesh Chaturti celebrations everywhere. The leopard sightings around the periphery of national park too have increased, this in no way means that the leopards are coming out of the forests getting attracted to humans. Leopards regularly use the same path and areas  which are used by humans without even letting them feel its presence. But as it is a festive season more humans are active in the night and thus it is felt that the sightings of the big cat have increased.

Our voices:

Speaking to Navin Pollampalli, core team member of RAWW (Resqink Association for Wildlife Welfare) said, "We are in touch with the residents of the society and will soon plan for an awareness program where we will interact, share information and awareness on avoiding wildlife conflicts and co-existing with the wildkinds".

Meet Shah, rescue team member at RAWW said, "We have been spotting big cats in and around Yogi hills regularly, it is a trail to a couple of them. However, they have never attacked or charged on people living around" We will be taking regular follow up of the area and making the security guards aware of certain dos and don'ts for avoiding conflicts with the big cats".

Another core team member of RAWW who requested anonymity said, "The security guard may have assumed that the spotted cat was about to attack him after watching it so close, it is possible that the cat was just on its trail as there were no injuries to the guard".

Photo Credits: Meet Shah

Amar Thakkar was behind the car (see pic) from where he saw the guard as well as the leopard at (the location from where the pic is taken)

Simple things if followed sincerely can help in avoiding conflicts and co-existing. 

This poster is exclusively made for the people who live around the periphery of the national park with inputs from the rescue team officials of SGNP