Leopard Spotted Roaming in Residential Area in Mumbai's Marol; Search On | WATCH

Mumbai’s forest department and residents in the city’s Marol area are on high alert after a leopard was spotted in Bhavani Nagar in Andheri’s Marol multiple times since Tuesday.

CCTV footage of the big cat strolling around the neighbourhood, which is located near Aarey Colony, on March 7 surfaced, after which the forest department increased patrolling and laid three camera traps to help identify the animal. Some residents asserted that the cat was spotted on Thursday as well, as per reports.

Twitter user @singhjph shared CCTV footage capturing the leopard roaming in the area and wrote, “Leopard was moving in Bhavani Nagar area, Andheri East, Marol #Mumbai yesterday night. All residents are affraid of their life. #BMC @CMOMaharashtra”.

Santosh Shetty, secretary of Bhavani Nagar Cooperative Housing Federal Society, told Mid-day, “The leopard was initially seen in CCTV footage at 1.30 am on Tuesday, March 7. We could see it approaching plot 1 just near the entrance of Bhavani Nagar. Later, at around 2.06 am, cameras recorded a leopard at plot no 2. The animal was last seen at plot no 3 at roughly 2.10 am, at which point we lost sight of it.”

“As the region where the leopard is wandering is heavily populated by humans, we have notified the forest department and asked them to capture the leopard as quickly as possible. Due to the large amount of stray dogs, there are high chances that a leopard might visit our area,” he added.

Several people also asserted that the leopard was seen in the early hours of Thursday on one of the buildings’ premises, Mid-day reported.

Meanwhile, the forest department said that the animal may have visited this particular locality several times before the Covid-induced lockdown in 2020, as per Hindustan Times.

“There is no need to panic. We have reason to believe that the animal is a regular visitor to the area, and will return to Aarey Colony soon. There is a patch of connecting green cover that the animal can use to go back without encountering humans. It is not stranded in the area, else in two days already some untoward situation could have occurred. It’s a very positive thing that the animal is keeping to itself,” a forest department official told Hindustan Times.

“People should remain calm and be assured that we are monitoring the situation, however, young children should not be left unaccompanied in and around Bhavani Nagar, especially when it is dark,” the forest department official said.

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