Mumbai: In a first, five leopards from Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) will be attached with radio collars to study more about the animal’s behaviour and habits. The SGNP has signed an MOU with the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) that will carry out the study spanning over two years.
Radio collars, also known as tracking collars, are devices that relay information about the animal’s movement and actions. These collars are also GPS-enabled.
“The data we gather through the collars helps us understand a lot about the animal, the path it takes, and things it eats. This is the first time that we will be studying leopards in and around the park,” Vidya Athreya of WCS said. She said they are in process of obtaining permissions from the Centre for the study, and the process of collaring will begin in a few months.
In 2009, the WCS had received permission to collar six leopards. While five were from Ahmednagar division, one was collared in Himachal Pradesh. One of the five leopards was Ajoba, who became an instant hero when stories about him walking 125 km from Malshej Ghat to Mumbai appeared in the media.
In the epic journey, the leopard walked through highways, crossed railway tracks, swam through a creek, and walked through busy civilization, including Ghodbunder Road. That was the first time that a leopard’s movement was observed so closely. The WCS hopes that the leopards from the Mumbai landscape will also yield exciting findings.
SGNP director Anwar Ahmed said the study is also part of their mandate to have a science-based management of the park.
Ms. Athreya said the study will provide good information about the urban carnivores. “The collar sends a signal to a satellite, which obtains the time and date the signal sent from the collar, and then the information is transmitted to researchers who can investigate where the animal is and what it is doing,” she said.
