Big cats need not spell big trouble

Utter silence within the group. So silent you could hear a pin drop, yes, even in the long grass swaying on the plains of Masai Mara, Africa, where we were. On a safari there a few years ago, the wait to spot a leopard was excruciating — the excitement high. One of the more elusive of the Big Five, the guide explained, and worth the time if spotted. The African leopard did not disappoint us that day. Finally spotting him after a suspenseful wait was the thrill of a lifetime.

But you know, all these years later, I feel I didn’t really need to go all the way to Kenya to look into the eyes of an honest-to-goodness leopard. All I needed to do was travel a few hours to the Aarey Milk Colony and surrounding areas in aamchi Mumbai where, if I were fortunate, I might just be able to see the pug marks of his Indian brethren. For that area is really their favourite h(a)unting ground.

There was a recent report in this paper itself which outlined how the Aarey cop substation in Goregaon has had a friendly neighbourhood visitor for a while now. Apparently, the leopard hangs around and then leaves of his own accord. It seems the police there, though scared, just stay inside till he leaves, which seems most sensible. Rather endearingly, the director of the national park had said in the report that the area comes under protected forest area and any animal can roam freely till it becomes dangerous and starts attacking people. This means that at present Mr Leopard, until he makes himself a nuisance, is really free to visit his neighbours towards whom he’s obviously developed a fond attachment. This touching affection for humans is not being reciprocated by us.

A recent report outlined how the cages at Sanjay Gandhi National Park were so claustrophobic they were making the leopards obese and activists apparently were worried about the animals’ well being. The report mentioned that cages seemed overpacked with 24 cats and officials were at a loss as they felt they had no space to accommodate more leopards.

Two months ago, a trapped leopard who accidentally entered a storm water tunnel was finally freed after a 10-hour drama. It was hard to tell from the report who appeared more panicked — the poor, frightened animal or the residents around the area, which is looking to be a real problem as more and more leopards stray outside the confines of forest regions around the area.

Recently, Union minister of environment and forests Jairam Ramesh released guidelines for human-leopard conflict management. His guidelines specify cages that are spacious enough for leopards to roam around freely. No surprise, there is a big difference between what is on paper and the real situation which has activists anxious. A reported Rs44 lakh, allotted for a leopard rescue centre, was sanctioned in 2008 but is still to be finished, apparently. The spotted fellas have been showing their affinity for us (or our food) for sometime - isn’t it time we do the same for them? After all, Nagpur is proud to be called tiger territory! Perhaps, with effort, Mumbai could be as proud one day about its leopard liaisons?