The State forest officials rescued a leopard on Monday, after it strayed into the sprawling campus of Mercedes-Benz India factory at Chakan near Pune, halting operations partially at the plant for nearly seven hours.
An adult leopard, aged around three years, was sighted by one of forest employees at around 5 am, prowling around the premises of the luxury car manufacturing plant, sending waves of panic among the factory workers.
Before long, the factory management alerted the local forest officials, who arrived on the factory premises and rescued the wild cat after a four- hour-long operation. A Wildlife SOS Team from the Manikdoh Leopard Rescue Centre also rushed to the scene with reinforcements and veterinarians to assist the state forest officials and help trap and rescue the leopard.
Earlier, the factory management partially suspended the operations for nearly four hours. The factory officials shifted the employees to a safe spot, before the forest officials launched rescue operations.
The leopard had hidden on the shop floor of one of the factory sheds. After securing the area, the two teams --comprising among others by Dr. Shubham Patil, Dr. Nikhil Bangar and forest officials used a tranquiliser dart to benumb the wild cat, before rescuing it at around 11.30 am.
The rescued leopard was later taken to a transit facility at Junnar in Pune district. The wild cat will be under observation at the transit camp -- which is also a rehabilitation centre – before being let off into the wild.
“The leopard was transported in a special transportation cage to a transit facility at Junnar. It will remain under medical observation before release into the wild, “ Maharashtra Forest Department’s Forest Range Officer Yogesh Mahajan said.
Wildlife SOS CEO K Satyanarayan attributed the staying of the leopard into Mercedes-Benz India factory to rapid habitat loss. “We have been witnessing these kind incidents in various parts of the state. Leopards are being compelled to venture into human dominated areas,” he said.
“Our team handled with the utmost caution, keeping in mind the safety of the leopard as well as humans,” Satyanarayan said.
After the rescue of the wild cat, the evacuated employee returned to their workplaces and the work resumed around noon.