Lights off, camera, action in Mumbai: Cub reunited with mom at Film City

MUMBAI: A leopard cub was reunited with its mother, C33 Delta, at Film City on Wednesday. It was found early on October 10 at Film City, 100 metres from the boundary of Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) by security staff. They handed it over to the forest department, who shifted it to SGNP animal hospital.
"Our team tried reuniting the cub with its mother that evening. The female leopard was observed moving in the surroundings but she did not approach the cage in which the cub was kept," said G Mallikarjuna, conservator of forests and director, SGNP.
On October 11 too, the rescue team tried to reunite the two. Camera traps were set up around the cub to monitor leopard movement. Volunteers from Wildlife Welfare Association, Aarey leopard group and Wildlife Conservation Society along with forest officials kept a vigil from a distance with surveillance cameras.
On October 12, around 3.45am the female leopard came close to the cage. As she approached the cage, they immediately opened the door with a pulley and rope. "Within minutes, the female leopard started nursing the cub and disappeared in the bushes with her cub," said Mallikarjuna.
The pictures of the female leopard on the camera trap were cross-referenced with past records. Based on the rosette patterns on her body she was identified as C33.
"The leopard had been radio-collared in Aarey milk colony last year and released around this time last year. It is a great relief for the forest department that she now has cubs of her own," he said.