Sanjay Gandhi National Park to get ‘advance traps’ to capture, transport wild animals

However, in Aarey and Thane, there have been cases of leopards found trapped and in a dehydrated condition.

Watch What Else is Making News

“In 2013, there was a case of a man-eating leopard. After killing two minors, several traps were laid out to catch the leopard. And when it was found in a cage by a forest guard, it looked very weak as if it was trapped for more than three days,” said a senior forest official.

Besides the technology, the cages are believed to weigh lighter and can be easily manoeuvred. The cage will the one metre by two metres in size. The average length of a leopard is 0.5 metres, officials said.

“We are considering to have these new cages and phase out the older ones. Our current requirement is to have three such cages with these technological advancements,” said Anwar Ahmed, newly appointed director of SGNP.

These cages will be developed by one company called Shah Fibrotech, which earlier provided the cages to the Thane forest department.

“These new cages can be towed to any location as they will have two wheels attached to them. We are also planning to have cages that are foldable. In the rural parts of the state, to transport the traditional cages that weigh between 175-200 kg is a task, we want these cages to be easier to manoeuvre,” said Utpal Shah of Shah Fibrotech.