In a surprising revelation, it has been observed that there has been an increase in the cases of leopards straying into the eastern suburbs, which can be attributed to the rapid development that is happening in the western suburbs.
Starting from April 13, the officials attached with the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) plan to take forward their six-month study by collecting scat of leopards for DNA analysis to better understand the leopard population in and around the national park.
“Of late, too many buildings and slums have come up on the western periphery of the national park, leaving lesser green space for the wildlife to roam in the western suburbs. Leopards are finding it easier to venture into the eastern suburbs, particularly from Bhandup, as the human density is relatively less,” said Krishna Tiwari, a wildlife expert.
For the last six months, the SGNP authorities have been clicking pictures of leopards by way of camera trap method. The study has been undertaken to have an estimate on their exact numbers, researching on the man-animal conflict and mapping the conflict areas.
“We are now planning to begin another process of scat collection of leopards,” said a forest official involved with the study.