Leopard attacks threaten capital city
Mumbai (AsiaNews)- Mumbai is under attack of a different kind. Leopard attacks in the suburbs of the capital killed 2 more people on Monday, bringing the death toll for this month alone to nine persons.
In a small, bare hutment on the slopes of the thickly forested Aarey Colony in Goregaon, a suburb in Mumbai, nineteen-year-old Raju was sleeping when a leopard dragged him out of the shelter in the wee hours Monday morning. A 55-year-old Kashiram of Mulund, another Mumbai suburb, was attacked while sleeping outside a shrine later that morning.
The same day, a leopard was trapped in a housing complex in Borivili, a northern suburb of the capital. It is a cause of grave concern to the citizens of Mumbai, as these suburbs are densely populated areas.
Leopards inhabit the nearby protected zone of the 'Sanjay Gandhi National Park', a wild life sanctuary, which forest officials claim has had massive encroachments in the last years - by both slum dwellers and builders.
Slum dwellers, mainly tribals and Adivasi, who have slowly begun to inhabit the park have no alternative housing arrangements, and have migrated to the city in search of some means of livelihood. They live below the poverty line and lack basic sanitation amenities and so use the forest to 'answer the call of nature'. In that way, they fall prey to leopard attacks. The Sanjay Gandhi National Park as well plays host to a number of Sadhu's and fakirs, fix-me-quick charlatans who dispense herbal concoctions and claim supernatural powers to ward off evil spirits and misfortunes. They are immensely sought- after, not only among the tribal and Adivasi people, but also by the urban population. Temples and Dargah are all within the Sanjay Gandhi National Park, even though living within the jungle or walking through it, is prohibited. Unfortunately, not even the temple priest could ward off the misfortune that befell him Monday, the latest casualty in the man-animal conflict. Tribal locals near the temple noticed that the priest was nowhere to be found Monday morning and started a hunt. Forest guard D. Waingankar found the mangled body a few kilometers inside the jungle.
Tribals are not the only victims. Now women and children are terrified of venturing out after sunset. Children, especially, are vulnerable to the big cats.
The Forest Secretary of Maharashtra Mr. A Khote, stated that the leopard population in the Park has increased, and the encroachments of the people into their territory are responsible for such attacks. He also said that leopards only attack people below their 'eye-contact', namely children and people who are sitting-down or sleeping. A municipal school in the area which caters to poorer children is also in the dense forest area.
The State administration has announced steps to tackle the leopard problem, first by installing Micro chips and Solar fencing to stop the wild cats from encroaching the city limits. However, as the city's boundaries creep further in, the leopard's habitat has shrunk, and prey has dwindled. Until the park is fenced and the Adivasis is properly resettled, the fear of more such a attacks linger, say the police.
To date fourteen leopards have been captured in Mumbai. There are still 32 known cats at large. (NC)
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12/05/2018 10:01
09/02/2023 11:24
