Mumbai: Second male leopard captured in Aarey Colony in less than a week

Earlier, a one-and-a-half-year-old girl was attacked and killed by a leopard in a forested area in unit number 15 of the Aarey Colony on Monday morning when the child followed her mother who was on way to a temple nearby

In the wee hours of Sunday, a male leopard walked into the trap cage set at Aarey Colony's Unit 15 by the forest department. The leopard was trapped around 200-300 meters away from the spot where the girl was killed in the wee hours of Monday. This is the second leopard to get trapped in the cage in less than a week. 

Talking to Mid-day, SGNP Director and Conservator of Forest (CF), G Mallikarjun said, "A male leopard walked into the trap cage set at Unit 15 in Aarey Milk Colony. The animal was taken to the Leopard Rescue Centre at SGNP. We are investigating if it is the same suspected leopard behind the Human-Leopard conflict incident and based on this further decisions will be taken. The camera trapping exercise will continue along with day and night patrolling."

Locals from the area told Mid-day that last night they had seen two leopards close to the location where the leopard got trapped in the cage.

Also read: Leopard attack: MLA assures chain-link fencing for Aarey homes soon

The leopard was immediately rushed to SGNP Leopard Rescue Centre where it will be kept in isolation. Sources from the forest department mentioned that close to 30 camera traps are currently active in the forest patch at Aarey Colony. The volunteers are checking the cards on daily basis to get the latest updates about the movement of the big cat. 

Since the day of the attack, many old videos of leopards from Mumbai's Aarey Colony and Film City are going viral on social media platforms such as WhatsApp and Facebook, claiming to be the latest videos, and forest department officials have to fact-check the same too. 

Night patrolling along with day patrolling and multiple awareness sessions are also happening in several units and tribal hamlets of Aarey Colony. 

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