It was ensured that a leopard stuck in a dense slum locality of Bhandup amid a crowd of over 2,000 people was allowed to escape.
A major incident of human-wildlife conflict was averted on Tuesday evening due to quick thinking by wildlife experts and forest department staff. It was ensured that a leopard stuck in a dense slum locality of Bhandup amid a crowd of over 2,000 people was allowed to escape.
'Leopard inside kitchen'
The incident occurred at Khindipada around 10.30 pm, when news of a leopard entering a kitchen of one of the slum houses spread like wildfire, leading to thousands rushing out of their houses.
"We began getting calls on our helpline and even the Thane Forest department alerted us about the situation so we rushed to Khindipada and saw mobs running with stones and sticks. We realised if this mob is not controlled it will lead to a major conflict situation," said Pawan Sharma, Wildlife Warden for Thane as well as President of Resqink Association for Wildlife Welfare (RAWW), which is involved in rescuing urban wildlife.
Sharma added that the leopard was found sitting near the kitchen of a household. As soon as the crowd started gathering the leopard went amok trying to escape but was cornered. Presence of multiple narrow lanes and darkness added to the chaos, as most of the time, the crowd wasn't being able to locate the feline.
Mob tricked
The staff of Thane leopard rescue team also reached the spot and along with volunteers of RAWW they first decided to bring the unruly mob under control. Given the nature of the task, even cops were called for help.
The leopard was spotted running on the roofs and walls to escape the mob. However, the rescuers were worried that if the leopard fell into a house or came face-to-face with the crowd, many people might get injured.
"After a discussion with forest department officials, we decided to trick the crowd. So, some of our volunteers began running in the opposite direction, making the crowd think that the leopard was on the other side and gradually the area where we suspected the leopard was hiding was cleared of the crowd. After four hours of sheer chaos there was a sudden lull," he said. He added, the leopard might have escaped in the meanwhile.
A major conflict avoided
Jitendra Ramgaonkar, Deputy Conservator of Forest, Thane, said that the area is near a forest and leopards are known to frequent Khindipada. "There was no way that the big cat could have been trapped given the dense slums and darkness and the only possible way was to let it escape on its own. It was a very difficult operation and had the situation not been handled smartly there could have been many casualties," he said.
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