Chilling closed-circuit television footage of a leopard sneaking into the foyer of an apartment block in a Mumbai suburb and carrying away a pet dog in its mouth has yet again alarmed local residents.
The assault by the wild animal captured on CCTV last week took place in northeastern Mumbai’s Mulund district adjoining the Sanjay Gandhi National Park, which wildlife officials’ claim is populated by least 22 leopards.
They said leopards are drawn to these buildings, which lie close to Bollywood studios, looking for prey as over the years their habitats have been encroached upon by property developers and rapidly expanding slums.
Officials said that over the past year, leopards from the 103sq km park have killed at least seven people and attacked scores of others, especially children living in crowded neighbourhoods surrounding it.
CCTV clip
Last Friday's 20-second CCTV camera clip shows the leopard silently but determinedly approaching a ground floor apartment outside which Raju, a pet dog, was asleep.
The leopard is then seen grabbing the terrified dog by its neck and dragging it silently across the lobby before fleeing with it in its mouth.
“The CCTV picture is spine-chilling. It seems a ghost entered the building and took the dog away,” the chairman of the building’s management group, GP Lagad, said. Raju was the sixth dog killed by leopards in recent years, he added.
Residents of the building have standing instructions not to let children and the elderly venture out alone after dark during the monsoon season, between June and September, as leopards are more prone to roam around in habited areas during these months foraging for food.
Vidya Athreya, a biologist with the Wildlife Conservation Society of India, said it was important for children to play in well-lit areas at night and for people to stay calm when leopards were sighted. "Seeing a leopard can turn ugly because people become alarmed and form a mob, panicking the animal. In its attempt to escape, it can turn vicious and injure people," she said.
