A 4-year-old boy was attacked by a leopard on Monday evening on the premises of Aarey Colony in Goregoan east. While the boy was out of danger, he suffered minor injuries.
The boy, identified as Himanshu Yadav, is a resident of Charandev Pada in Adarsh Nagar in Aarey Milk Colony. According to forest officials, Himanshu was on his way to meet his family to play Navratri Garba when the incident took place.
He was attacked by the leopard, which gave him minor claw injuries on his back and leg. After being alerted, the boy was immediately taken to the nearby Jogeshwari Trauma hospital for treatment by the locals.
"Moving at isolated spots, especially during night hours in the absence of any street light is highly dangerous. We had instructed the locals frequently about this as several such incidents have occurred in the same setting," said the official. "In order to identify this leopard, we have set up a closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera in the area where the incident took place and some other marked spots where they are suspected to show up," he added.
"It is becoming a menace in recent times as leopard visits have become more frequent. We don't intend to hurt any animals as we believe in co-existing without damaging anyone's settlement. But if our people get injured, or die due to such incidents, we will have to be vigilant. The forest authorities should do something for our protection," said a resident on the condition of anonymity.
The forest official stated that they are patrolling the sensitive spots where the big cats tend to be spotted. Reportedly, in recent times more such incidents are being witnessed where the leopards are straying in the settlement areas from the forest – Sanjay Gandhi National Park.
Recently, similar leopard sightings occurred at the campus of the Indian Institute of Technology – Bombay (IIT- B) in the Powai area. The campus which is spread over 550 acres bordering the Sanjay Gandhi National Park, has now frequent wild visitors – from leopards to wild bulls.
