A leopard was rescued by the Forest Department on Wednesday from the washroom of a school at Bimbisar Nagar in Goregaon East in Mumbai. The animal was successfully tranquilised and has been taken to the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) Leopard Rescue Center. The entire operation took three hours, NGO Wildlife Welfare Association said in a Facebook post.
The leopard had entered the school on Tuesday night and was first spotted by a security guard, PTI reported. The leopard was hiding in the washroom of the school.
After receiving a distress call, the Mumbai range rescue team of the Thane forest department and a team from Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) was rushed to the spot.
The animal was tranquilised before being rescued from the premises as the school was located in a residential area and was 100-200 metres from the Western Express highway.
"Around 12.30-1 am, the watchman of school saw a leopard jumping over the gate and he immediately informed the forest department. The offials who were first to reach the spot confirmed that a leopard jumped into the bathroom from a small space available but couldn't get out," the post by Wildlife Welfare Association said.
"As this place was 100-200 m from Western Express Highway and being residential area, the department decided to tranquilise and rescue the feline for its safety," the post further said.
The rescue team, after reaching the spot, scanned the entire area along with forest department officials and secured the all exit points with the help of nets. "Police team was available for controlling the crowd. Finally, from a small window, the leopard was tranquilised and rescued safely," the post said.
The leopard was later shifted to SGNP for medical examination, before being released into the wild.