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Nikit Surve- the Scatman!
Elsie Gabriel.
Of course, I have
seen the Leopard which appeared diagonally in front of my building arena in Hiranandani
Powai Mumbai about six months ago. All I could do as a lay person and
environmentalist, was to shoo people away from the scene and call the authorities,
pave way to give the leopard some dignity and respect; as it was on it’s own
home ground. It was no use crowding around and clicking pictures, or gawking at
it, collecting a large gathering around it. The leopard was not in a circus, it
was in its own jungle surrounded by us creatures, humans!
copyright pics SNGP/Elsie Gabriel/Nikit Surve
The man and animal
conflict has risen in fact with more cases showing up, as experts attribute
this to human encroachment of forest land.
The shrinking natural habitat of wild animals like deer, rabbits, and jackals has been forcing them to enter human habitations sometimes, where they come in conflict with human beings competing for space and food.
The shrinking natural habitat of wild animals like deer, rabbits, and jackals has been forcing them to enter human habitations sometimes, where they come in conflict with human beings competing for space and food.
At many places wild
life suffers loss as people hound the beast and then kill it to spare from its
expected attacks. With climate change and deforestation, more and more of the
poorer sections of society get the bitter end of the bargain, like in the case
of the Arey hutments.
Today, 30th June 2015,
watching Nikit Surve, a masters student from the Wild life Institute of India
was very enlightening. Nikit unveiled his research methods on leopards to
obtain the density and census of leopards in SNGP; and to also estimate the density of wild
prey in SGNP as well as its diet and domestic preys. Nikit has carried out a
study of the different aspects of the ecology of leopard which was all studied
at the Sanjay Gandhi National Park Mumbai from December 2014 to June 2015.This study
was conducted under the supervision of Dr. S.Sathkumar, Dr. K.Sankar, and
Dr.Vidya Athreya in collaboration with the park authorities and the Park
director Vikas Gupta.
Nikit and his teams
used ‘camera traps’ deployed both sides of the trails and ‘Distance sampling’
with the help of ‘line transects’ among
numerous other methods all around the periphery of the park including the Arey
Milk colony, the Manpada Yeoor belt and Nagla zone of Borivli . For this he said that
they even collected Leopard scat [feces] to analyze the leopards food habits. “Prey
density outlined where leopards were moving for prey. Along with marking
transects, pug marks, scats and tracks, cameras at ideal locations were placed
to study the ecology of the leopard habitat.”Added Nikit, as he showed several captures of the team washing Leopard poo and documenting findings from its contents to prove it's diet chart.Thererfore I proudly call him the Leopard Scatman!
copyright Pics Nikit Surve
“This study is excellent, we can now manage the park in a
more systematic manner and also help with mitigation where the leopard-human conflict is
concerned. We appeal to the public to be sensitive towards the leopards and not
sensationalize the creatures.” said Vikas Gupta, director, SGNP congratulating
Nikit and his team. Therefore in conclusion at least thirtyfive leopards feeding
on wild pigs, stray dogs, civets, jungle cats,macaques, langurs, deer, sambars
and other preys like Hare and Mouse Deer exist in the SNGP. According to the
study findings, 24% of prey base is stray dogs alone, total domestic animals
prey base including dogs is 43% while the remaining prey base of 57% is from
the wilderness . Nikits presentation of his pictorial findings were very entertaining
but factual.This is the first time a density estimation has been done of the leopards
of SGNP.
So, if you ever see a leopard, do not be alarmed, infact
any wild life animal, simply walk away. Do not provocate the animal,or gather
in large crowds. The leopard was accorded full protection by awarding it
the Schedule I status in 1983 which gives it the highest protection in India.
Do not take the matter in your own hands. Call the
forest department or BMC or Police to help. Do not pressurize the forest rescue
team to capture the wild animals, you never know if there are young ones being
left behind for poachers. You also never know if you are creating a space for bigger
wild animals to come in. You may call the Forest rescue team where ever you are or simply the police and if in Mumbai call the Sanjay
Gandhi National Park control room: 022- 28866449.
[Elsie Gabriel is the founder of Young Environmentalists Programme Trust and Mentor Climate Reality leader for Al Gores climate change education. Expert Environment Law and Mass communications Elsie is a certified Green Teacher.You may contact 9967347511/elsiegabriel for more EVS ecucational trails and presentations on climate change.]
