Leopard visits Raheja Heights again at Dindoshi, new cage trap set by forest department

Mumbai: An adult male leopard was once again seen inside the Raheja Heights residential complex at Dindoshi, Goregaon (East), in the wee hours on Saturday. This is the third leopard sighting at the complex within a month. However, while no one was harmed, the Thane (territorial) forest department has set up a new cage trap at the site.Situated on the edge of Sanjay Gandhi National Park, the Raheja Heights complex first recorded a leopard on its CCTV surveillance system on March 17 this year, when a stray dog was mauled by the predator.In the latest incident, the leopard was seen casually walking in the parking area between 2 am and 2.15 am, before being chased away by the whistle-blowing guards. No one was harmed."The leopard usually jumps into our society from the adjoining municipal garden. We have urged the authorities to set up fencing in order to stop the leopard from coming inside our complex. We are following all the precautionary guidelines of the forest department, in order to avoid a human-animal encounter. We do not allow children to play outside after sunset, because the leopard prefers to come here in the night," said a concerned local resident.The honorary wildlife warden and founder of Resqink Association for Wildlife Welfare, Pawan Sharma, said: "It may not be a good idea to set up fencing at Raheja, because the leopard may find some other route to enter the complex, and then not find a way to get out. That can become a dangerous situation."Sharma added that it is likely that the same male leopard is making multiple visits to Raheja Heights in order to search for prey, since leopards are territorial animals.Activist Roshan Pathak, Animals Rights Advisor of In Defence Of Stray, commented: "Since humans are making more and more buildings next to the national park of SGNP, it is obvious that the wildlife from the forest will spill out. There is also no buffer zone between the forest and urban settlements. So, the people should learn to live with the leopards by following the forest department guidelines." Wildlife experts have also questioned the use of cage traps at the Dindoshi site, since the visiting leopard has not harmed any humans.