Bigcats News

[Apollo]

Leopard drowns in well in Chandrapur, rescue bid fails

A leopard died of drowning into a well, even as rescue workers toiled for hours to save the beast on Sunday morning. Rescue operation was launched on full scale to fish the leopard that had accidentally fallen into the well in Alesoor village in Sindewahi range during Saturday night. Hours of hard-work however went in-vain as the cot lowered to lift the beast out of the well gave away and the exhausted beast fell into the water and got drowned.

Nawargaon-Alesoor area in Sindewahi tehsil was hit by hailstorm and torrential rain on Saturday night. A leopard that had strayed into the village in the night accidentally fell into a well in the village. In the morning, people discovered the leopard swimming in the well. Many were surprised how the beast fell inside the well that have three feet high parapet wall.

While senior forest officials and rescue team of forest department rushed to the scene on getting information, a mob of hundreds of villagers had gathered at the place to watch the drowning leopard. Rescue workers lowered a cot, tied with ropes on all four ends, to fish the leopard out of the well. The beast climbed over the cot, but it bit off the rope tied to one corner.

Foresters then supported the dangling end of cot with the hooked iron rod and gradually raised the platform with the beast sitting over it. However, after the cot was raised midway, the hooked end of iron rod gave-in and the beast again fell into the well. Exhaustion and fatigue took over the beast and soon it got drowned, while rescue workers watched helplessly.

DCF, Bramhapuri forest division, Ashish Thakre claimed that rescue team tried its best to save the beast, but uncontrolled mob posed to be a big hurdle. "The leopard had bleeding claws as it had starched hard on the wall of the well for hours. Hours of swimming had exhausted its strength too. The outrageous mob looking down at him in the well was additional shock for the beast," he said.

He denied reports that the exhausted beast was tranquillized by forest shooter while it was sitting on the cot and drowsiness of tranquilization led to drowning of the beast after it fell back into the water. "We had kept the tranquiler guns and cage ready for emergency, but beast was not tranquillized. Exhaustion took over the leopard and it fell back into the well and got drowned," Thakre said. He claimed that post-mortem report has indicated some internal bleeding, which suggests that the beast had sustained some internal injuries during the fall into the well.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/...015829.cms
 

 

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Hit-and-run: Leopard killed on Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway

*This image is copyright of its original author

A one-year-old leopard was killed in a hit-and-run accident in the wee hours yesterday, near Ghodbunder village on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Highway. The leopard was the 41st animal to be killed in highways near Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) and Tungareshwar Wildlife Sanctuary (TWS) in the past 20 years. 

A study conducted under the ‘Mumbaikars for SGNP’ initiative of SGNP in 2012 revealed that 40 leopards have died in road accidents along the periphery of SGNP between 1994-2011.

A majority of the accidents took place on the stretch between Ghodbunder village and Vasai, near TWS. Some accidents were reported on the Bhandup-NITIE Road adjacent to IIT Road and on Thane-Ghodbunder Road, which is forested on either side.

Early on Sunday, Jogeshwari resident Parag Mayekar and his friends were on their way to Jivdani temple in Virar, on their bikes. Just before Ghodbunder village on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Highway, Parag saw a leopard lying in the middle of the road. 

Motorists driving by were not stopping their vehicles.
“Around 5.15 am, I saw that a leopard was lying in the middle of the road. We got off our bikes and saw the animal lying unconscious. We immediately lifted the animal and moved it to the side of the road.

It was obvious that a speeding vehicle had knocked down the animal while it was trying to cross the road. In some time, the patrolling vehicle came, after which we also informed the SGNP rescue team. We took the animal in a rickshaw to the forest beat chowky near Fountain hotel.”

Dr Sanjeev Pinjarkar, a veterinary doctor from SGNP, said, “The animal is a one-year-old female leopard. It was already dead when our rescue team reached the spot near Ghodbunder village. The death was caused by severe injury caused by a fast-moving object.”

There has been an average of two leopards deaths every year due to road accidents. The numbers shot up in the years 2002 and 2007, with seven and six deaths recorded respectively.
The data also indicates that accidents are significantly higher between December and May, with December being the most dangerous. They are less frequent in the monsoon months.
On the Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway, leopards are most vulnerable on the stretch between Delhi Darbar Inn and Kolli Chowki, along with spots around Chena.

“Accidents appear to be fairly common along the highway at Tungareshwar, which has forested patches on either side of the road, with a natural ascent on one side of the road and a fairly steep descent on the other end,” said a scholar who was part of the study.

He added that several of the accident spots, especially around Chena had garbage dumps, a probable reason for noticeable leopard activity in the area.

Official speak

Vikas Gupta, SGNP director and chief conservator of forest, said, “We are going to speak to the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) to find solutions. We will try to restrict speeding of vehicles in that area, where animals cross frequently.

We will also discuss the possibility of constructing an underpass for wild animals with agencies. We have taken note of the points highlighted in the study on leopard deaths on the highway.
We will speak with local civic bodies and ask them to take strict action against dhabas and hotels that dump garbage on the periphery of SGNP and TWS.”

http://www.mid-day.com/articles/hit-and-...y/15242098
 

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