Goregaon: Leopard rescued from SRPF ground

“Normally, whenever a leopard is spotted, a crowd assembles at the spot. But since this was SRPF ground, others were not allowed. SRPF officials were quite disciplined and the rescue process went off smoothly. The rescue operation was over within a hour-and-a-half,” said the official. (Representational Image)

AN ADULT leopard was rescued from the State Reserve Police Force (SRPF) ground in Goregaon (east) on Sunday. It was rescued by a team of over 30 officials from the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) and the Thane forest department in an hour-and-a-half-long operation.

Jitendra Ramgaonkar, deputy conservator of forests, Thane forest department, said they received a call at 8.30 am on Sunday that a leopard had entered the SRPF camp in Goregaon. “At least 10-15 people from our team and as many from the SGNP headed to the spot. The leopard had been spotted in the gymnasium at the SRPF camp… We suspect it must have entered at night,” said Ramgaonkar. He added, “We tranquilised him… sent him to the rescue centre for treatment.”

Another official said it was one of the swiftest rescue operations carried out by them. “Normally, whenever a leopard is spotted, a crowd assembles at the spot. But since this was SRPF ground, others were not allowed. SRPF officials were quite disciplined and the rescue process went off smoothly. The rescue operation was over within a hour-and-a-half,” said the official.