PONDA: Villagers and commuters on the National Highway (NH) in Borim witnessed a leopard, known for its nocturnal movements, freely roaming in the village during broad daylight on Friday morning.
The initial reaction of people was to run away, fearing a potential attack. Realising that the leopard, seemingly tired and starved, was unlikely to harm them, villagers provided it with a bucket of water and informed the Forest Department.
After a brief chase, the juvenile leopard was successfully rescued using a net, by a team from the Forest Department, at the busy Borim Circle on the National Highway.
It has been shifted to Bondla Zoo, where it will be kept under observation, said forest officials. Locals, who were seen following the cub and filming it on their phones, said it was unable to hunt due to its small size.
Over the past two weeks, tired and threatened leopards have been seen, as these nocturnal animals were spotted in parts of the village during the day. Earlier, a wild cat was seen on an internal road at Shirshirem-Borim, and videos of these encounters were recorded.
With human settlements rapidly eating into forested areas across the State, leopards, which are adaptable animals, foray into urban areas and survive on stray dogs and cattle. This often leads them into so called conflict with humans, especially when the big cats are forced to snatch their domestic animals and poultry due to lack of prey in the shrinking jungles. Here the animals are not aggressors but victims
“Incidents of human-animal conflicts, like today’s encounter, are not because of the animals, but because of us humans- we have encroached upon their habitat, destroyed their ecosystem, which belongs to them. I humbly request every citizen to take it as a duty to preserve nature, which has been gifted to us, free of cost, to live in harmony with these animals,” said Julio Quadros, rescuer, Animal Rescue Squad.
