Leopard cub slips into 50-ft pit, dies
In the dead of night on Sunday, she had sauntered into a municipal complex in Bhandup that houses a water purification plant. Just like she often did. A few hours later, the leopard cub, about three months old, was found lying dead in a pit in the complex.
This complex is situated inside the Sanjay Gandhi National Park in Borivali.
The carcass was pulled out of the empty pit, about 50 feet deep. It seemed to have fallen smack on its face; there was lot of blood around its little nose, it had sustained an injury to its forehead and to one of its eyes.
Sources from the water purification complex said that some of their employees had seen the cub romping about playfully in the vicinity. Around 1am, when the cub disappeared suddenly, the night staff feared it could have slipped into the empty pit very close by. Quickly, an SOS call was made to the control room of the Borivali national park.
“Looks like the leopard cub fell on its face on the concrete bottom,” said a source who learnt of the accident. “It had grievous injuries, and could have died quickly.” The carcass was pulled out of the pit around 3 am by forest department officials.
Leopards and other wild animals, said the source, are regular visitors in and around the complex situated inside the forest area and which is in close proximity of Vihar lake.
Another source said the cub could have managed to reach the pit, whose entry is barred by a gate. “It seems the gate had been left open by mistake and the cub could have entered through the open gate,” said the source, adding that this was still a matter of investigation. Officials from the forest department and water purification plant were initially tight-lipped about the incident, saying that they were conducting independent probes. Confirming the incident, Chief Conservator of Forests, Sunil Limaye, said, “Forest officials have visited the place to carry out investigations.”
Founder of city-based NGO Plant and Animal Welfare Society, Sunish Subramanian, who learnt of the cub’s death, said that rampant construction had been going on inside the complex area for the last few years. “At several locations, pits have been dug and construction equipment is kept which could prove hazardous for wildlife,” said Subramanian. “I have written to senior officials of the forest department and the BMC about the cub’s death and demanding a detailed investigation. I have also asked them to carry out a site visit to find out what steps could be taken to avert such incidents in future.”
In January last year, forest officials had fished out a decomposing carcass of a leopard from an abandoned water tank in Ramabai Nagar, Bhandup after slumdwellers in the area complained of an unbearable stench. Abandoned by the municipality in 1976, the tank was full of stagnant dirty water and plastic waste.
This complex is situated inside the Sanjay Gandhi National Park in Borivali.
The carcass was pulled out of the empty pit, about 50 feet deep. It seemed to have fallen smack on its face; there was lot of blood around its little nose, it had sustained an injury to its forehead and to one of its eyes.
Sources from the water purification complex said that some of their employees had seen the cub romping about playfully in the vicinity. Around 1am, when the cub disappeared suddenly, the night staff feared it could have slipped into the empty pit very close by. Quickly, an SOS call was made to the control room of the Borivali national park.
“Looks like the leopard cub fell on its face on the concrete bottom,” said a source who learnt of the accident. “It had grievous injuries, and could have died quickly.” The carcass was pulled out of the pit around 3 am by forest department officials.
Leopards and other wild animals, said the source, are regular visitors in and around the complex situated inside the forest area and which is in close proximity of Vihar lake.
Another source said the cub could have managed to reach the pit, whose entry is barred by a gate. “It seems the gate had been left open by mistake and the cub could have entered through the open gate,” said the source, adding that this was still a matter of investigation. Officials from the forest department and water purification plant were initially tight-lipped about the incident, saying that they were conducting independent probes. Confirming the incident, Chief Conservator of Forests, Sunil Limaye, said, “Forest officials have visited the place to carry out investigations.”
Founder of city-based NGO Plant and Animal Welfare Society, Sunish Subramanian, who learnt of the cub’s death, said that rampant construction had been going on inside the complex area for the last few years. “At several locations, pits have been dug and construction equipment is kept which could prove hazardous for wildlife,” said Subramanian. “I have written to senior officials of the forest department and the BMC about the cub’s death and demanding a detailed investigation. I have also asked them to carry out a site visit to find out what steps could be taken to avert such incidents in future.”
In January last year, forest officials had fished out a decomposing carcass of a leopard from an abandoned water tank in Ramabai Nagar, Bhandup after slumdwellers in the area complained of an unbearable stench. Abandoned by the municipality in 1976, the tank was full of stagnant dirty water and plastic waste.
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