We are dealing with an Urban leopard in Belagavi
The sources in the Forest department Belagavi after days of monitoring the elusive Leopard have now concluded that they are right now dealing with an Urban Leopard.
They are known to be very adaptive to all kinds of Landscapes and climatic conditions. Their habitats include forests, subtropical and tropical regions, savannas, grasslands, deserts, and rocky and mountainous areas. Leopards have recently started to stay close to human settlements due to a lack of prey density in forests, growing numbers of tigers in the forest, and easy availability of prey such as dogs and other rodents.
The Forest department says that Leopards do exist outside the jungles in the fields but due to their stealth they stay unnoticed. The recent sightings in Yaddurwadi, Sindagi, Dharmatti, and Baknur are nothing unusual as leopards do thrive near villages and fields. The Leopards were always there but were unnoticed by the human eye.
Their diet is among the widest of all the cat species. The Diet of a leopard can include Birds, small mammals, monkeys, insects, and reptiles. The Urban Leopard has well adapted to the region in and around the Golf course which has abundant prey density and includes Rabbits, Mongoose, Dogs, and Pigs.
The Forest department has deployed over 22 camera traps on the Racecourse. Initially, on the 8th the leopard was spotted walking on the track. But he seemed uninterested in the bait which was laid in the cages to trap him. For days he remained elusive. The Forest department received various reports of Sighting the Leopard.
Multiple teams led by Forest Office Girish SB (Legal and ICT) and Rakesh Sir (Range Forest Officer Bhimgad) attended the calls and tried to verify and confirm the sighting by checking the Pug marks of the Leopard. Akshay Basarkod who was traveling in his car on Sunday 14th August from Camp to Hanuman Nagar at 2:15 AM spotted the elusive cat but could not click a picture of the Leopard leaped into thick vegetation near the Main gate of the Golf Course. Rakesh Sir from the Forest department visited the area and found one Pug mark of the Leopard. One more call was received from Hindalga, and Girish SB attended. The Leopard can hide in the thick grass, bamboo trees and the water sewage pipeline which is surrounding the Golf course.
Lots of Rumors and fake videos are circulating on social media. It is the duty of people to verify before forwarding. Any leads of the Leopard around the city with a photograph and witnesses will be appreciated by the forest department.
It has been 17 days since the Leopard was spotted near Jadhav Nagar it did not attack any humans in and around the city. The Leopard has adapted to the city and humans without harming anyone. It has well adapted to the presence of humans and co-existed amongst us. He is very comfortable in this urban landscape and does not have any intentions to hurt the humans. When Leopard has decided to Co-exist, humans should also try to conserve wildlife.
~ Article by Mudassar Ternikar
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