Leopard strikes teen

There was yet another leopard attack in Mumbai’s Aarey Colony, late on Friday evening and this time, it was a 14year-old boy who was grievously injured on his head and neck. The incident occurred at Unit No.13 in the colony.

The boy, Darshan, was rushed to the Hinduhridaysamrat Balasaheb Thackeray (HBT) Trauma Care hospital in Jogeshwari, where he was treated and discharged.

This is the seventh instance of a leopard attacking humans in the Aarey since August 31. On September 30, a 19year-old youth, identified as Rajesh Rawat, a resident of Santosh Nagar in Goregaon, was the sixth victim of a leopard attack at Aarey. Before that, there had been five attacks, including those on a four-year-old on September 26 and a woman, Nirmala Devi, on September 29.

Following the September 29 incident, forest officers had set up and activated four cage traps to catch the female subadult leopard involved in the attack. On October 1, a leopard walked into the cage and was trapped. However, the forest officers subsequently confirmed that it was not the leopard they had been looking for. When researchers matched the leopard’s rosette pattern (imprints/patterns unique to each leopard, like human fingerprints) with pictures of the animal on an attacking spree captured in the camera traps this week, it was clear that the one that had walked into the cage was not the same as the animal responsible for the recent attacks.

Sources from the forest department said the trapped leopard has been kept in a cage at the Sanjay Gandhi National Park and the state forest department is mulling the feasibility of radio-collaring her.

So far, there has been no luck at trapping the leopard involved in the attacks, considering that a fresh attack was reported late on Friday. “We have still kept the trap cages activated. Initiatives like patrolling, awareness programmes etc. are already being followed by us to prevent and help people understand the animal attacks and thereby keep themselves safe,” said a forest officer.