Forest officials believe it's the result of a leopard attack, but locals feel that it's a case of poaching
A carcass of a spotted deer, found close to the boundary wall of Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) at Borivali created a scare on Tuesday amongst locals who feared a case of poaching or hit-and-run. Forest department, however, feel it was a leopard attack and has decided to wait for a night before beginning an investigation.
According to BJP leader Vikram Chogle who stays near SGNP, some residents from Gulmohar society, which is located close to the boundary wall, phoned him up complaining about terrible odour possibly from a dead animal. “As the stench was strong, we suspected that a large animal could have been killed. Since it was inside the park premises, we reached the site at 5.30 pm. We found the carcass of the deer near the boundary wall close to Devipada. Its stomach had been cut and its neck was twisted,” he said.
Chogle immediately alerted the forest department, but it appeared that the official already knew that the deer had died.
It was only after making several calls that the forest department staff reached the spot and some officials informed Chogle and other gathered locals about their suspect of it being a leopard kill. “We were told about possibility of it being a leopard kill and we insisted that since it was the food of the leopard it should not be removed. However we requested the forest department to move the carcass slightly away so that there could be some reduction in the stench affecting the residents of the building. However while we were leaving the forest department staff moved the carcass using a tractor,” he said.
Anwar Ahmed, Chief Conservator of Forest (CCF) and Field Director of SGNP said that there were some bite marks seen and they suspected that the deer could have been killed by a leopard. “In case the carcass is not taken away we will get a post mortem conducted on Wednesday morning to find out the reason for the death,” he said.
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