(Picture courtesy: Mumbai Mirror)

(Picture courtesy: Mumbai Mirror)

'People have moved into leopard's territory'

MUMBAI: A cat that had wandered into a new MHADA colony building in Goregaon was chased away by a stray dog last week. Nothing out of ordinary except that in this particular case, the feline was a leopard .The CCTV footage of the episode has left the 168 resident families panicked. Days after the incident, there is no solution in sight as the leopard has been sighted in the same area many times since then. The society is located so close to the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) that they are separated by just a boundary wall. In fact, the residents said that a water hole where leopards come to drink is located near to their building.Ulhas Gawde, secretary of the New Dindoshi Hill View co-op housing society, said "On February 26, the CCTV captured the leopard walking in our premises from the main gate at 3.48am. Then a minute later, it was chased away by a dog. On the same day around 5am, the security guard saw it sitting close to the boundary wall. He made some noise and the leopard fled."The scared residents then contacted the Thane forest division officials, who came at 11.15pm the next day. Even as they were speaking to the residents, the dogs started barking again. "We saw the leopard sitting on the boundary wall. The forest officials asked the security guards to scare it away by bursting fire crackers. They said if the problem persists, they will set up traps," said Gawde, adding that the last sighting before this was in 2010, but the leopard had not entered the society.Meanwhile, the stray dog that chased the leopard away has also become a hero for the building's residents."We have three stray dogs in the building and residents often feed them. It was shocking to see this one giving a chase to a leopard. We hope none of them falls a prey to the leopard," said a resident.Amrut Khose, chairman of the society, said, "Every resident in the six wings of the society is scared. Many people leave for work early in the morning, and several come home late. The leopard could be lurking around anywhere. We have already instructed the residents to be careful about not allowing children outside after dusk. We have also installed halogen lights all around."He added, "The security guards burst crackers on an hourly basis throughout the night. It seems to be working as the big cat was not seen on Saturday, but the noise is giving residents sleepless nights."On the other hand, Darshan Ambre, a photographer and a resident of the nearby building, said that residents will have to understand that the leopard was very much in its territory. "Basically, we have moved into the leopard's area than the other way round. We will have to take measures to ensure that there is no conflict. The forest officials said it could be a female with cubs, and she is coming for the dogs to feed her cubs. Matter might get worse if it's trapped. That is not a solution," he said.Meanwhile, Anil Todarmal, range forest official, said, "We have been patrolling the area regularly and visit it again if needed. We will then advice the residents to take more precautions, including putting up fences."