The leopard that never was

“The workshop belonging to the metallurgy department was handed over to the institute by 7 am,” said K P Singh, chief conservator of forests (CCF), Thane forest division, who visited the spot Friday night.

“It was already three days and several attempts to locate the leopard had yielded no results, so we sent in a team with all the gear and searched every bit of the workshop. Although we suspected that the leopard would no more be there, we needed to be sure before we handed the lab over to the IIT,” Singh said.

Forest officials, however, confirmed that a leopard used the workshop, situated a kilometre away from the main gate, as a hiding spot. “The cabin top inside the workshop had pug marks and there was scat (animal excreta) all around the workshop. We believe that after being locked up inside the workshop by IIT-B employees on Wednesday morning, the leopard may have been scared and used the cabin top to escape through the exhaust fan vent just below the roof,” said Kishore Thakre, deputy conservator of forest (territorial), Thane division.

But this leopard rescue mission was like no other for the forest department. For the first time, robots with camera and night-vision equipment were used to search for the animal.

On Wednesday, forest officials blocked all potential exits of the workshop and set up a trap cage inside the workshop.

When this failed to lure the leopard, a team of students brought in a remote-controlled car fitted with camera to locate the leopard. When this too failed to spot the leopard, two forest officials surveyed the lab while seated inside a caged trolley. To get an aerial view, students also attached a camera and torch on a bamboo and inserted it through some of the spaces. Several failed attempts and 34  tired forest officials later, the combining operation was decided upon.

Thakre said using crackers to bring the leopard out of the workshop was not an option as the workshop contain hydrogen tanks. “We tried several methods for two days and tranquilising is always a last option for us,” Thakre said. “We may ask IIT-B to provide us with the robot for future use during similar rescue operations,” he added.

On its part, IIT-B has deployed a security guard at the workshop and has instructed the campus security to intensify their night watch. “We may repair the workshop as it was not used regularly and has a lot of old equipment. Right now, security will be intensified to avoid such situations in future,” said Rashmi Udaykumar, IIT-B’s public relations officer.