The leopard of Kudlu Gate
An apartment danger zone
At Kudlu Gate near Electronic City of Bangalore, many residents had the shock of their lives as a leopard was found at a garage. This viral incident has been playing on multi — media apps. Here is what it’s about.
In the wee hours of October 29th, 2023, a leopard was found prowling the garages of the Salarpuria Cadenza Apartments. It’s escapades include the lift, compound and parking lot.
It has also been spotted by residents and police. The residents have been keeping from wandering at late hours, also carrying canes as defense. It has triggered insecurity in the apartment.
Several operations have been launched to help find the leopard, yet the leopard was not caught. The forest officers have placed several traps to catch the beast.
The leopard has also posed a threat to the nearby MS Dhoni International School. The school has issued warnings to the students. The leopard was also sighted being chased by dogs on the street.
Special areas at Bomanahalli, HSR Layout and BTM Layout have been warned to be careful of straying outside. Teams for the management of these wildlife have been created by the District Forest officers.
70 forest personnel were deployed with veterinarians to tranqulise the leopard. They were going to capture it, give it a health test and release it back into the wild. They had captured it on Nov 1 2023.
It is suggested that the leopard could have come from Bannerghata National Park. Wildlife experts have spoken out that such encounters are the result of the shrinking natural habitats for these animals due to rapid urbanization.
In December 2022, a tally of four leopards were sighted in the city. Mumbai too has had its leopard woes. There are incidents where overpopulated leopards at Sanjay Gandhi National Park crossed to the civilian area, sparking off humorous books such as “ Leopard In Mumbai !”
Madhya Pradesh is the state where maximum leopards have been found. According to a census in 2018, MP had a whopping 3421 leopards. Karnataka was next with a number of 1783.Maharashtra was third with 1690.
A shocking incident occured in Dewas district of Iklera village of MP, when a leopard stumbled into the village. It was 95 km from Indore. Several people surrounded it, taking selfies, even trying to ride on it before thinking otherwise.
Some precautions to avoid conflict with leopards are -
They are nocturnal, so avoid walking in areas where leopards have been sighted.
Avoid climbing trees in darkness, or leopard areas, as they are arboreal.
Dont approach closely, especially if there are cubs with their mother.
Clap and shout if you are being directly faced by it.
Don’t crowd around it or threaten, because they attack upon panicking.
These are tips to avoid conflict with these spotted jungle beasts.