The leopards of Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP), Mumbai, are “hardcore Mumbaikars,” says Nikit Surve. “Like me, they were born and raised here.” They are as used to bright lights and big city as the human residents.
The 100-sq km park’s 40 to 45 leopard inhabitants dodge humans within their territory. You’d think nothing good ever happens when lots of people meet plenty of predators. But most folks rarely, if ever, see their shy animal neighbours, as they walk past Surve’s camera traps, often within a minute, of a razor-clawed cat.
“Leopards jump off the road and hide in bushes when people come by,” says Surve. “And when the coast is clear, get back to their business. They definitely see us more often than we see them.”
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In tiger reserves, several safari jeeps, laden with raucous tourists, corral tigers, which seem bored with the celebrity-worthy attention. Such a situation would never arise with a leopard, says the researcher. Their shy nature is one factor that enables them to thrive in the metropolis. Their resilience, a trait they share with their fellow citizens, is another.
Can human Mumbaikars adjust to the situation as leopards do? At one time more than a decade ago, that seemed impossible. Many encounters resulted in injuries and deaths on both sides. Residents demanded the removal of leopards while conservationists wanted people to be evicted.
“Removing leopards is a short-term solution,” says Surve. “If you don’t remove the cause [of their presence], leopards will continue to return.”
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Resident cats
The sylvan grounds offer plentiful prey, round the clock security, and proximity to others of their kind living in neighbouring forests to the east, key criteria conducive for leopard occupancy.
The park management started a collaborative programme called ‘Mumbaikars for SGNP’ (See ‘Predator on Our Porch’, October 27, 2017) involving the public, police, media, and researchers such as Surve.
“It took seven to eight years for the programme to pay off,” he says. “Now the city has also accepted leopards as fellow Mumbaikars.”
When leopards stride along compound walls or sprawl on ledges, people have learned to keep their cool. Residents, including celebrities such as actor Siddharth Chandekar, whose apartments overlook the park, have turned fans, posting photos of the cats on social media and gushing about the feline beauties.
The Warli adivasis and other communities living in flimsy shacks within the park don’t have the advantage of safety by distance, living alongside these predators. One family had the fright of their lives when a leopard crash-landed inside their hut. A woman was cooking dinner in the kitchen when she heard a commotion in the other room where her two children were completing their homework. The 50-kilogram cat dangled from the ceiling fan, which luckily, wasn’t working. It had been stalking rodents on the rickety roof when it gave way. The inhabitants ran outside while the leopard charged out minutes later. The frightened predator didn’t return again in more than two months of camera trapping.
Icons around
The indigenous community worships Waghoba or Waghdevi, a deity of large cats represented by the striped avatar of a tiger or the spotted pattern of a leopard. About 50 such icons adorn the park, evidence that human interaction with the animal world takes different forms.
This bonhomie didn’t prevent leopards from sneaking into the city surrounding the park. Were they unable to find food? After studying the wild prey of the park, Surve concluded there were ample deer to keep the leopards sated.
“It’s down to the cost-benefit ratio,” he says. “Rather than chasing after a deer, they prefer snatching a stray dog.”
One dog can feed a leopard for five to seven days.
“There’s a hawker selling vada pav every 300 metres in the streets of Mumbai,” he says, referring to a popular burger-like snack with spicy fried potato filling. “Dogs are as easily available along the periphery of the park.”
Like their human counterparts, leopards have adopted the ease of city life: street food.
Janaki Lenin is not a conservationista but many creatures share her home for reasons she is yet to discover.