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Leopard cub captured in IIT, Mumbai
Syed Firdaus Ashraf in Mumbai |
August 05, 2003 10:25 IST
A leopard cub has been trapped at the Indian Institute Technology campus in Mumbai.�
This is the second time in the last one week when a leopard has been trapped in the campus.
On
July 28, a male leopard crossed the fence of Sanjay Gandhi National
Park. Forest officials finally caught it after laying a trap.
Speaking to rediff.com,
Major (retd) Rajesh Dhankar, security officer of the IIT campus said,
"We used to spot leopards occasionally in 1990s. But since last year,
the spotting of leopards by students of IIT has become a common
phenomenon. These leopards have multiplied in National park and are not
finding prey in those areas. So they cross over to our campus to find
prey."
IIT is based in the northeast of Mumbai and is
surrounded by Powai Lake, Adi Shankaracharya Marg, Kanjurmarg and
Sanjay Gandhi National Park National Park.
The IIT campus is
about 600 acres and there are 250 guards, who keep a watch. At any
given point of time there are at least 5,000 students.
Complaining
about the lack of facilities, Major (retd) Dhankar said, "We don't have
any guns or modern equipments to deal with these leopards. We only have
firecrackers to scare them. We burst them whenever they are near our
offices."
Last year, a 11-year-old boy residing in Kanjurmarg was killed by a leopard.
"So
far there has been no incident where a leopard has attacked any of our
students," said IIT Public Relation Officer, Aruna Thosar Dixit.
"However, four years ago a watchman was attacked by the leopard when he
tried to scare him and drive away. Luckily, he was not seriously
injured."