The path the leopard chose?

PUNE, Dec 3: Around the time the leopard was playing hide-and-seek with those out to net it, another guessing game was on. People everywhe...

PUNE, Dec 3: Around the time the leopard was playing hide-and-seek with those out to net it, another guessing game was on. People everywhere were debating on the path the leopard chose to enter what is virtually the heart of city.

Wildlife experts said they could not rule out the possibility of the big cat scampering in from the wilderness of Katraj-Sinhagad tracks or from Mulshi. Not many, however, were prepared to buy the argument that the animal may have crossed the river from the hills of Sinhagad human disturbance being comparatively more in these areas.

8220;Mulshi area gives it ample opportunities to stroll right upto the area behind ARAI or the Bhamburda hills without being noticed,8221; a wildlife activist said.

Some months ago a leopard cub, barely a few weeks old, had strayed into the Katraj ghat section. And immediately thereafter, the carcass of another cub was found in the ghat 8212; the cub was probably run over by a passing vehicle.

Local foresters, together with volunteers from the animal orphanage at the Katraj snake park, searched the Katraj ghats and the adjoining wooded areas for days at a stretch but failed to find the mother of the cubs.

If the Friday incident 8212; of a big cat on the prowl in a concrete jungle like Karve Road 8212; is being dubbed very uncommon, people of Pimpri-Chinchwad and beyond may not entirely agree. Because around this time last winter, a leopard visited the Alkapuri defence colony which shares its compound walls with the thickets of Durgadevi hill on one side and the sparsely inhabited defence lands on the other side.

Many still remeber a leopard which became a sensation on the test tracks of Telco, again right in the heart of Pimpri-Chinchwad. This was sometime in the late 8217;80s. Many in Telco had seen the majestic jungle cat on the prowl, something which ensured that test track regulars stayed away for sometime. But the animal could never be traced. Even with help of baits to lure it into a trap. The mystery remained.

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According to available information, forest circles like Junnar and Talegaon in Pune district are home to over a score of leopards. While wildlife officials are worried about the dwindling cat population, leopards targeting humans has been a grave concern for many dwelling on the slopes of Bhimashankar or Nane Ghat in Junnar, Ambegaon, Otur areas.

According to wildlife experts, the leopard belongs to a highly adoptive species. The leopards have been adjusting themselves to their changing surroundings. The change often comes almost instantly, compared to others, especially tigers, facing similar environmental constraints. A secluded leopard is rated as fearless, agile, able and a cunning animal. There have been instances galore of leopards lifting cattle.

But herpetologist Neelimkumar Khaire, who has the distinction of rearing over half-a-dozen leopard cubs, differs. 8220;I never saw any of them the cubs he nursed being cunning. The fact is we know very little about the big cats,8221; he says.

In his book Maitra Jeevache, Khaire has described about how Baba 8212; the first leopard which came to his orphanage for wild animals 8212; used to recognise him even months after it was shifted to a bigger enclosure at Peshwe Park. 8220;My leopards taught me many things. I8217;ve very high regards for them,8221; Khaire writes.