First-time leopard sighting near Vasai fort leaves experts puzzled

Wildlife researchers and the forest department are astonished by a recent leopard sighting near Vasai Fort a location considerably far from the forest and near the Vasai beach The sighting was brought to their attention when the leopard was struck by a passing bike while crossing the road Vasai Fort and the closest forest Tungareshwar Wildlife Sanctuary are about 16 km away by road The straight line distance between the two locations is around 9 km There are railway tracks and a densely populated area between them Itrsquos fascinating to think about how the leopard managed to travel through this without being detectedHit by bikeDonald Xavier Gonsalves 38 the eyewitness who first spotted the leopard on Friday said ldquoAround 830 or 840 pm on Friday when I was riding my bike back from Vasai Fort with my wife and two children I saw a motorbike coming from the other direction collide with a big catlike creature The collision caused the rider to fall I immediately stopped my bike and went over to help the person At first I couldnrsquot identify the animal but when I looked more closely I saw that it was a leopard that quickly vanished into the surrounding bushesrdquo Donald made sure the individual who had fallen off the bike was shifted to the hospital right away Afterward he told the local Aadivasis about it but none of them thought it was a leopardNobody believed meldquoDespite living in this area for over 150 years my family and ancestors have never seen a leopard in this area which is quite a distance from the forest patch As a result nobody took me seriously when I claimed to have seen a leopard My local political friend helped me obtain the phone number of the forest department and I contacted Range Forest Officer RFO S R Ade Marsquoam Ade Marsquoam and forest department staff reached the spot at around 1030 pm on Friday and later we discovered the pugmark of leopards in the nearby mangrove forest patch Two cameras were installed by staff members of the forest department and volunteers from an NGO The camera traps were checked in the morning and it confirmed the presence of a leopardrdquo added DonaldThe biker who fell down after colliding with the creatureOfficials from the Forest Department are attempting to determine whether the leopard has sustained any injuries as a result of the collision so that they can plan a safe capture strategy and provide any necessary medical care if at all needed Rohit Mohite from the NGO Wildlife Welfare Association WWA along with his team of volunteers have installed camera traps in the area along with live cameras On the instructions of Sanjay Gandhi National Park Chief Conservator of Forest CCF G Mallikarjun a team led by researcher Nikit Surve from Wildlife Conservation Society WCS India is also helping the forest department to locate the leopardCamera traps setMadhumitha S Deputy Conservator of Forest Palghar said ldquoCamera traps have been installed in the area adjacent to the Vasai fort where the leopard was spotted and we are monitoring its activityrdquo Since this is the first time a leopard has been sighted in the area the forest department is spreading awareness among people about what to do and what not to do when they see a leopard Sources from the Forest Department said the leopard was sighted in the wee hours of Sunday in one of the video cameras installed and it appears that the animal is not limping840 pmThe time around which the leopard was spotted