Nikit Surve - the Scatman! Disecting and studying Leopard poo to track the diet/ecology of leopards in SGNP Mumbai.

                   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.

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.]