Leopard rescued from drain at Bhayandar slum

The leopard after being rescued from the drain near Jai Ambe Nagar; the rescue team at work on the site. Pics/Sameer Markande

Despite challenges in the operation, the forest department successfully rescued a leopard from a stormwater drain in Bhayandar West on Wednesday. Officials said the animal was hiding around 400-500 metres inside the dry drain, and after hours of efforts, they were able to get it to one end of the outlet.

For the past few days, there were reports about a leopard sighting near Jai Ambe Nagar, a slum settlement, about 7-8 km away from the forest. Based on a report that a leopard had been spotted near the rail tracks in the area, a search operation was conducted on Sunday night but nothing was found.

Thereafter, the forest department instructed biologist Nikit Surve of Wildlife Conservation Society-India to install camera traps in the area. A leopard was captured in the camera traps, but it wasn't until Wednesday that the animal was finally found.

On Wednesday morning, locals called the forest department with information about a leopard in a stormwater drain.

The Thane Forest Department (Territorial) and the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) leopard rescue teams played a vital role in rescuing the big cat. The entire operation lasted around 6-7 hours.

Assistant Conservator of Forest Girija Desai from Thane Forest Department (Territorial) said, "It was a very challenging operation because the leopard was hiding inside a dry stormwater drain. As the leopard was hiding around 400-500 metres inside the drain, we prepared a plan in such a manner that we were able to confine it to the last hundred metres of the drain. From there, the leopard was safely darted."

According to SGNP officials, Veterinary Officer Dr Shailesh Pethe had prepared the dart according to the weight of animal and the animal was darted by SGNP Rescue team member Vaibhav Patil.

6hrs
Approx time it took to rescue the leopard