Camera traps to spot leopard in Kanjurmarg

Five days after a leopard was spotted at the Mansukh Factory compound, Kanjurmarg (East), wildlife conservationists are planning to install camera traps inside the compound to trace the spotted cat. Nikhil M Ghanekar reports.

Five days after a leopard was spotted at the Mansukh Factory compound, Kanjurmarg (East), wildlife conservationists are planning to install camera traps inside the compound to trace the spotted cat.

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The conservationists will seek permission from Echjay Forgings Industries Private Limited and Crompton Greaves Limited, on Thursday, to install these camera traps in their factory compounds. The photographs would enable them to determine whether the stray leopard is still inside one of the two compounds.

The film rolls inside these cameras are developed to see what has been recorded. The camera traps are being installed by conservationists working on the ‘Mumbaikars for Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) and Leopards’ project. “We are using 12 camera traps inside SGNP to study the leopard movement,” said Sunil Limaye, director, SGNP. Vidya Athreya, an ecologist, who has been working on ‘Project Waghoba’, a leopard conservation program, since 2007, said, “If a leopard is sighted, people should avoid crowding near that area and leave it alone.”