The wounded wildcat rushed to rescue centre at SGNP; officials to probe the role of poachers
The front left paw of the leopard has been badly injured, and the snare around its left paw was removed by the veterinarian at SGNP
A seriously injured leopard with a snare around its left paw was caged near Virar by the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) leopard rescue team, along with local staff and NGO SARRP on Wednesday. The officials are now investigating the involvement of Bahelia poachers from Katni in Madhya Pradesh.
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A couple of weeks back, the Mandvi range of the forest department had received information about the continuous movement of a leopard, close to a tribal hamlet Kashid-Kopar, adjacent to the forested patch near Virar East. A video of locals saying they had seen a ‘tiger’ had also gone viral on some WhatsApp groups.
President of SARRP Santosh Shinde said, “Our volunteers assisted the Mandvi Range to conduct a recce of the area. Forest department officials got indirect evidence of a leopard in the form of pugmarks.
Range Forest Officer (RFO) Vijay Barabde along with his SGNP leopard rescue team reached the spot on Tuesday, and the strategy to capture the animal was planned
Later, our staff along with the forest department installed camera traps in the area. Due to the dedicated efforts by the forest department and SGNP leopard rescue team, the image of the leopard was captured and the injured animal was successfully caged.”
Leopard got stuck in snare
Sources from the area said that the leopard was frequently spotted near an overhead water tank location, in order to quench its thirst and the possibility cannot be ruled out that someone possibly from the area might have set the snare to get rid of the animal. There are also talks that the snare might have been installed to capture wild boar but the leopard might have got trapped.
It is also said that after getting stuck in the snare, the leopard must have applied force to free its leg from the metal wire, and while it broke the snare, the portion of the metal wire surrounding its left paw got stuck and the foot got swollen.
Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (APCCF), Wildlife (West), Clement Ben said, “A leopard with clamps was seen moving in Virar and was successfully caged in the wee hours of Wednesday. The injured leopard was rushed to the rescue centre at SGNP.”
“A similar incident was reported many weeks ago in Karad, near Sangli. It seems that Bahelia poachers are active again. We are investigating the incident and instructions have been given to increase the patrolling and strict action will be taken against those involved.” Ben added that the snare around the leopard’s left paw was removed by the veterinarian at SGNP.
Leopard finally caged
Early Tuesday morning (March 29), locals sighted the leopard after which Range Forest Officer (RFO) Vijay Barabde along with his SGNP leopard rescue team reached the spot and the strategy to capture the animal was formed. Senior Veterinarian Dr Kishor Batwe was present with the SGNP team during the rescue operation. Later, the SGNP team and Mandvi Range of the Forest Department installed two trap cages at strategic locations.
March 29
Day when the locals spotted the leopard
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