A motorcyclist escaped unhurt in Vasai after a leopard tried to pounce on him late Tuesday night when he was returning home from work, said police.
After he was attacked by the big cat, the motorcyclist Shah Rukh Khan fell down on the country-made road, and immediately shouted for help, which scared the leopard prompting security personnel to rush for help.
The incident has triggered panic among local residents, who generally resort to using the same route to go to work.
A team from Valiv police station arrived at the spot after local residents informed them.
The cops have persevered the photos of a paw print on the country-made road in the Bhoidapada area of Vasai East for further investigation.
“The motorcyclist escaped unhurt by the attack of a big cat last night. We have preserved its paw prints for further investigation. The forest officials have been alerted about the spotting of a big cat, which is suspected to be a leopard,” said Dilip Ghughe, the senior inspector of Valiv police station told mid-day.
The officials are looking for more paw prints, scratch marks on trees, droppings and other important points to trace the leopard.
Last year in March, a male leopard was spotted near the Indo-Portuguese Fort in Vasai where dozens of stray dogs went missing and the carcasses of animals were found in the vicinity.
Dozens of forest officials and wildlife NGOs reportedly had to use bait, set up cages, and monitor the area with drones or night-vision equipment to finally capture him after 25 days of struggle.
Govt plans to sterilize leopards to control population growth amid rising human-leopard conflicts
While the instances of negative Human Leopard interactions are increasing and also the number of leopards increasing the government has plans to do the neutering of leopards to control their growing population.
MLC Satyajeet Tambe urged neutering leopards to control their growing population and wrote a formal letter to the Maharashtra government regarding the same. Responding to the letter, the state Forest Minister Ganesh Naik has responded positively to sterilising leopards. However, since permission from the central government is required to execute the decision, the proposal will be sent to the central government, Forest Minister Ganesh Naik mentioned at a press conference on Tuesday evening.
“After sugarcane harvesting, leopards lose their natural habitat and move into human settlements. This leads to attacks on dogs in human settlements and farmers working in the fields. MLC Satyajeet Tambe had submitted a letter regarding the sterilisation of leopards four days ago. As a result, sterilization is indeed a solution to reduce the leopard count. We will also discuss with central ministers if necessary,” said Ganesh Naik.
Farmers in rural areas are provided electricity at night to irrigate their fields. If electricity is provided during the day in areas where leopards are active, leopard attacks can be reduced. Additionally, during the winter session, Tambe demanded that farmers living in leopard-prone areas be given grants to build fences for their fields and homes
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