Dead cat may have been from family of 3 at Asola

NEW DELHI: Officials at Asola Bhatti Wildlife Sanctuary suspect that the dead leopard, which was found on Monday morning on Faridabad-Gurugram Road (Pali Road), was one of the three cats that had been staying in the sanctuary for nearly a year.
Since last September, the sanctuary staff had been sighting leopards near the abandoned mining pits, with both pug marks and visuals being recorded in the area. Camera traps were recently installed to monitor their movement, but no images were captured, indicating a possible movement of the family.

Sohail Madan, centre manager of Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) at Asola Bhatti Wildlife Sanctuary, said there was a high probability that the leopard was one of the three regularly seen there. “We will study the leopard closely and compare it to past visuals. I’m yet to see the leopard, but an inspection will give an idea of its age and whether it was an adult or a juvenile. This particular stretch has led to several leopard deaths in the past few years,” he added.
“The area connects the Aravali belt. Leopards were also found dead on this stretch in 2015 and 2017. This stresses on the need to protect such corridors where the movement of animals, particularly leopards, is frequent,” said Madan.
Asola officials had been tracking the family for over six months, largely declaring them as “residents” of the area after leopard sightings became frequent. It was only recently that sightings had reduced.
Forest officials said reduced disturbances last year, owing to the pandemic, assisted by habitat enrichment in the form of creation of check dams, waterbodies and a boundary wall may have played a role in the leopards coming to the Southern Ridge. The area also has an adequate prey base in the form of monkeys, jackals and nilgais.
Delhi is no stranger to leopard sightings. In the last week of January, the forest department had confirmed the presence of a leopard in Najafgarh after the animal’s pug marks were spotted in a village and near the drain. A cage had also been placed, but forest officials said the leopard returned to the place from where it had come.
In December 2016, a leopard was spotted in Yamuna Biodiversity Park in north Delhi. The animal was captured by the wildlife department and released in another state.
Credit Source – https://ift.tt/3x6nGHr

The post Dead cat may have been from family of 3 at Asola appeared first on Stay in Gurgaon.