Leopard sightings keep Thane residents on edge

Thane: Fresh videos of a leopard roaming near residential pockets in Wagle Estate have triggered concern among residents days after a similar sighting in Shrinagar last week.Two videos from Hanuman Nagar, adjoining Sanjay Gandhi National Park, have gone viral on social media where the first shows the leopard drinking water from a plastic tub kept near a forest checkpoint along the city-forest boundary.Another captures the animal scaling the wall of a parking lot lined with autorickshaws and cars before darting back into the forest after spotting a man strolling nearby. "The video was shot on May 4 in Hanuman Nagar. The man and the leopard spotted each other and immediately ran in opposite directions. We are trying to locate the person who spotted the animal," said BJP corporator Amit Saraiyya.This is the third leopard sighting reported near human settlements in the Wagle Estate belt within a week. Earlier, Shiv Sena corporator Manoj Shinde had shared footage of a leopard moving outside homes in Kailash Nagar, prompting warnings to residents.The repeated sightings have heightened anxiety among locals, especially early morning walkers and late-night commuters, with residents demanding stronger surveillance before any untoward incident occurs.The forest department confirmed leopard movement in the area and said advisories had been issued asking residents to remain alert and avoid venturing out after dusk. Forest officials, however, maintained that the animal was largely moving within the forest fringe adjoining the residential areas.It may be recalled that Forest Minister Ganesh Naik had recently shared how the leopard population in the state was rising and that sightings in urban areas were likely to increase. Speaking at a recent public event in Thane, Naik had also proposed developing leopard safaris in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region to create protected habitats for the big cats while promoting tourism.