Leopard spotted roaming on sets in Mumbai's Film City

A leopard was spotted moving on sets of a studio at Film City in suburban Goregaon previous night after which a partially eaten carcass of a dog was discovered that created panic among workers and staff around, a Maharashtra forest department official said on Monday.

After incident of Sunday night came to light, multiple teams of officials visited site and evaluated situation, said Pawan Sharma, founder and president of RAWW (Resqink Association for Wildlife Welfare) who is also an horary wildlife warden with state forest department.

Workers and or staff of sets panicked due to attack on dog, he said.

A video of leopard roaming on sets in Film City has surfaced on social media.

sprawling Film City, a tourist attraction, is located on boundary of Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP), which is home to leopards, and also abuts Aarey Milk Colony, a forest area within Mumbai.

"We will be regularly patrolling premises. As of w situation is under control. However, since leopards share common s with humans it is important to be alert and aware and follow necessary visory and instructions from forest department," said Sharma.

He said leopard that entered Film City sets appeared to be in search of easy prey.

"Dogs are easy to hunt as compared to wild prey. Also, due to increase in cover of grass and shrubs wild prey species are comparatively difficult to kill," said Sharma.

forest department along with wildlife volunteers will install camera traps to track movement of big cats, said official.

"People should walk in groups, must t venture alone in dark near forested patches, use a torch while walking with mobile rio on so that if re is a wild animal around, it moves away as it's ir natural instinct to avoid any conflict," Sharma said.