You probably have heard of a wild Leopard entering the Mercedes-Benz India’s manufacturing facility in Chakan recently and shutting down the facility for almost 6 hours. Well, embedded above is the video of the rescue operation.
A four-member team from the Wildlife SOS Rapid Response unit led by the NGO’s veterinary officers, Dr. Nikhil Bangar and Dr. Shubham Patil with help from the forest officials did a stellar job rescuing the wild cat. The team operating out of the Manikdoh Leopard Rescue Centre drove nearly 70 km (43.5 mi) to reach the Mercedes-Benz plant.
The male Leopard, estimated to be 3-year-old, was found to be healthy and had not sustained any injuries. He was safely put into a cage to be later released back into the wild.
Although the area where the Mercedes-Benz plant exists is not surrounded by thick vegetation, it is surrounded by forest patches that appear to be vanishing due to rapid industrialization. And according to the NGO, Maharashtra has one of the highest densities of Leopards, not just in India but in the world, which makes it not very surprising to see such human-wildlife conflicts. The official statement added the following:
Due to rapid habitat loss, leopards of Maharashtra are being forced to venture into human-dominated areas. Our team is trained to ensure that such situations are handled with the utmost caution, keeping in mind the safety of the leopard as well as humans.
Source: Wildlife SOS
Recommended for you
Leave a Reply
Note: Comments that are unrelated to the post above get automatically filtered into the trash bin.
