Leopards have inhabited Mumbai and the surrounding areas of Maharashtra since time immemorial as an integral part of the landscape. Until fairly recently (in the last decade), when the habitat in the area, which consists primarily of scrub jungle abundant with small prey… a perfect place for leopards to thrive, started getting threatened with development.

This leopard haven where the beautiful cats co-existed in harmony with their human (farmer) neighbors changed drastically when the Government started providing financial incentives to encourage sugar cane cultivation.

Rapid destruction of forested habitat made way for sugar cane fields, leaving the leopards with little option but to adapt to the rapidly changing landscape. With very little forested habitats left to forage, hide and live in, they started living in the sugar cane fields. As their wild prey slowly became scarcer they adapted to living on livestock (cattle, goats etc) and local village dogs.  Obviously as they started living in close proximity to farmers, they became more visible to the rural population and this caused the public to think of them as a threat to their livestock and their own safety.

Female leopards had very little options to protect and conceal their young and so they littered in the tall sugar cane crops to protect their cubs from predators. Sadly, this coincided with the sugar cane harvesting season and protective mother leopards would attack if people approached cubs, causing public anxiety. Worried villagers would call the Forest Department who would in turn trap and remove the leopards. Some of these animals were released back to the wild, but others with a history of attacks and also due to public resistance could not be released and were sadly left in solitary confinement for the rest of their lives, mostly in cages the size of a small dining table.

A leopard holding facility that was built in 2002 by the forest department to house these beautiful creatures only provided cells for solitary confinement and did not provide for large outside enclosures that were adequate to keep the leopards happy and healthy. Out of 26 leopards housed at the center, only eight leopards had access to an external space to exercise. So, in 2007, Wildlife SOS was invited to partner with the Government to improve and expand the Leopard Rescue Center while addressing the needs of the leopards.

Wildlife SOS also works to increase awareness and education about leopards among the people who live in the area and work in the sugar cane fields.  By improving the rescue facility, and creating an education center within it, we can have a bigger impact. Our goal is to help the people to co-exist with leopards with increased tolerance, instead of fearing them.

To help with this important work, please consider making a one-time donation, or a monthly gift to sponsor a leopard.  Thank you.