Forest officials to again seek nod to capture Aarey leopard

One of the three leopards that entered a cage in Aarey last month

After suspending the operation to capture leopard C32, suspected of attacking nine people at Aarey Milk Colony in the last two months, the Thane forest division (territorial) will once again seek permission to trap or sedate the big cat. The earlier permission by the principal chief conservator of forest (PCCF)-wildlife lapsed on October 31. Despite setting up seven cages, officials had not succeeded in trapping the leopard.

Top forest officials from Thane, the field director of Sanjay Gandhi National Park and a team of volunteers met on Monday afternoon to work out a plan to capture C32. "Since the permission to trap the suspected leopard got over, we will again approach the office of the PCCF- Wildlife in Nagpur and request them to renew the permission," said a forest official.

The spot at Unit 3 of Aarey where a child was attacked by a leopard on September 27. File pics/Satej Shinde

Sources said a report on the movement of leopards in Aarey will be submitted to the top wildlife official. In the past few weeks, officials and volunteers have gathered more than 100 images of leopards, including C32, inside Aarey.

With the operation stalled at the moment, sources said, forest officials are making sure that the camera traps continue to beam visuals. Since there will be increased human activities inside Aarey due to Diwali, officials said it's crucial for them to keep a track of leopard movement as it will help them minimise man-animal conflicts.

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No. of cages that were active last month