A video of a leopard wandering through a walled courtyard of a house in Mumbai’s Aarey Colony on Sunday has gone viral. The video, which appears to have been recorded on a CCTV camera, is dated June 1 and records the time as 2:43 a.m.
The one-minute, 17-second video was shared on Twitter by Indian Forest Service officer Susanta Nanda. Soon, Nanda’s tweet went viral and the video garnered over 1.6 lakh views.
Commenting on the video, a Twitter user wrote, “The original forested area of Aarey Settlement and nearby areas has been shrinking over the past 50 years or so, due to the appearance of industrial units, d ‘residential buildings, hotels, etc. affecting wildlife’.
The original residents of Aaray settlement, Mumbai, taking a stroll last night pic.twitter.com/tahXBhVzpC
—Susanta Nanda IFS (@susantananda3) July 1, 2022
When man begins to take over forests, it is natural for animals to go anywhere in search of food. It is we who disturb the natural order.
– KAVIRAJ PATIL (@patil_kaviraj) July 2, 2022
Perhaps this could be one of the last videos of these lovely residents strolling carefree through their natural habitat once the subway garage takes over?
— Pappu (@PappuSh51568941) July 2, 2022
And there are still people who don’t believe #Aarey is home to wildlife. It would be interesting to see how many of them are willing to walk around this forest at night. In fact, there are some who debate even if Aarey is a forest!! #SaveForest at #SaveSoil
— Prasad (@PledgeGren) July 2, 2022
After 9:00 PM avoid going to Aaray Colony as it is common
— 🇮🇳Susheel ਸੁਸ਼ੀਲ (@Susheelmumbai) July 1, 2022
Sad to see what urbanization has done to these living. Soon he will be killed because he was walking around his old premises
— Sky (@umarbaia) July 2, 2022
We humans are intruding on their house…it’s not their fault that they visit their house…
— Anushkasushil (@Anushkasushil1) July 2, 2022
Sorry to say, but they are not original residents of Aarey Colony. I’ve been staying at an aarey colony since the 60s and roamed freely at odd hours, but very rarely spotted them. Mainly used to see jackels. Now they are frequently spotted due to the easy availability of food, dogs, chickens, etc.
— MVL (@LOHARKARMV) July 1, 2022
I’m probably wondering who took over what was ours. We humans have encroached on their territory, entered the jungle in the name of progress, deforestation was necessary for this… and now we are faced with the results.
— Rina Ghose (@GhoseRina) July 2, 2022
The original forested area of Aarey Settlement and nearby areas has been shrinking over the past 50 years or so, due to the establishment of industrial units, residential buildings, hotels, etc. affecting wildlife.
— Balakrishnan KK (@KKBALAKRISHNAN) July 3, 2022
Leopards were frequently sighted near and around Aarey settlement. Last month, a leopard strayed into a school in Goregaon, Mumbaiwhich is near the settlement of Aarey, and was rescued in a joint operation by the forest department and the police.
This latest leopard sighting also comes after Maharashtra’s new chief minister, Eknath Shinde, decided to move the construction of the Colaba-Bandra-SEEPZ metro car shed near Aarey Forest. Activists believe that any large-scale construction in Aarey Forest will be detrimental to the natural environment and rich wildlife in the area.
The 800-acre Aarey Forest, which was declared a forest reserve in 2019, is said to be home to nearly 290 species of wildlife.
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