Man-animal conflict at city’s doorsteps Leopard rescued from residential building in Bhandewadi

 

 

 

The menace of man-animal conflict is now knocking at the doors of Nagpurians as a full-grown leopard entered a densely populated locality in Bhandewadi area on Wednesday morning. The incident has spread terror among the populace in other adjoining areas too. A 3-4 year old male leopard was spotted on the second-floor of a building. The sudden sighting of the leopard left the residents shocked, drawing a crowd in thousands and prompting an immediate call for assistance. The quick response from the police and Forest Department led to a secure and safe rescue of the strayed leopard. The operation lasted for almost three hours.

 

 

 

 

 

Ashok Deshmukh, a resident of the building, informed ‘The Hitavada’ that, his daughter went to collect clothes from the second floor when she noticed the tail of the leopard near the bathroom. The girl, immediately, informed her family members about the leopard. Without wasting time, Deshmukh dialed the police helpline number. Sensing the importance of the call, the police informed the Forest Department about the leopard. Teams from various police stations and a team from Transit Treatment Centre (TTC), Seminary Hills, rushed to the spot with rescue equipment. “We got the information around 10 am from the Police Department.

 

Our team rushed to the spot in no time as many of our staffers are residing near Bhandewadi,” informed Kundan Hate, In-charge, TTC. Initially, a video of the leopard went viral on social media within an hour. The location was situated exactly adjacent to a newly-constructed flyover near Bhandewadi dumping yard. As the video got viral, people from different parts of the city and commuters started gathering to get a view of the leopard and the ongoing operation. The cops faced a tough time in handling the crowd as thousands of people gathered everywhere surrounding the ongoing operation site. Despite all the odds, police team handled the crowd and with the efforts of the TTC team, the leopard was rescued within 3 hours and shifted to TTC in Seminary Hills.

 

 

Rescuing the leopard from a dense residential locality and being surrounded by a huge crowd, was a tough task for the rescue team. As per the sources from the Transit Treatment Centre (TTC), the girl, who spotted the leopard on her terrace, locked the floor from outside. It was risky for the TTC team to open the door and dart the leopard. Minimising the risk, the team first broke the small portion of a wall facing back of the leopard and darted at the big cat. The team waited some time after darting the leopard and the team entered inside the door after getting confirmation that the leopard was unconscious. Initially, the team tried to catch the leopard with a net but that idea failed as the floor was locked from outside and there were many onlookers everywhere. After the rescue, the leopard was shifted to TTC and as per the information, it was released in the wild on Wednesday itself.

 

 

 The Transit Treatment Centre received calls of leopard sightings in the Bhandewadi area earlier also. The Dumping Yard is situated close to bushy areas and lies on the forest fringes of Umred Paoni Karhandla Wildlife Sanctuary. Therefore, leopards stray close to the area any time, said a senior Forest official. “Dumping of carcasses of dogs, pigs, cows, etc., by Nagpur Municipal Corporation in the Dumping Yard attracts stray dogs. In search of dogs and carcasses, leopards venture into the locality. The civic body should perform proper disposal of carcasses in the yard to stop such encounters in near future,” said Kundan Hate, In-charge, TTC.