Mountain Lion and the Leopards of Mumbai National Park

by Rudolph.A.Furtado
(Mumbai)

Mumbai National Park - photo of white tiger by Darrel Ronald (Flickr)

Mumbai National Park - photo of white tiger by Darrel Ronald (Flickr)

There was a televised documentary of the perils and dangers with comparisons of the "Man-Eating leopards of Mumbai National Park" and of a fatal Cougar attack in California on sports mountain bikers.

Mumbai National park is the World's only natural wooded forests to contain leopards living in its environment, this island of forests totally encircled by one of the World's most populated city's. Similarly in California, mountain lions exist amongst the human trekkers and mountain bikers and occasionally as happened the two collided with disastrous results.

The attacks by leopards on the human population living on its periphery in Mumbai due to lack of animal prey and also human encroachment into the forests resulted in most of the leopards being trapped and translocated.

The result has been that in 2009 there are no reports of leopard attacks on humans in Mumbai's national park periphery but there are also few "Leopard sightings" indicating that their population in the park has been decimated or better their natural animal prey base has increased whilst human encroachment into the forests reduced.

Ultimately, in any city or country, California or Mumbai, it's difficult for wild cats and humans to co-exist in harmony as human population encroaches into animal territory and the only solution could be "National Parks" like in Mumbai, but, with proper "Animal Management".

Rudolph.A.Furtado

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Mountain Lion and the Leopards of Mumbai National Park

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Jun 29, 2009 "Cats of India"
by: Rudolph.A.Furtado

Dear Michael,

Thanks for the feed-back on my article as I do my level best in "awareness creation" about nature.
Regarding the subject of "Domestic Cats of India", the topic is a total alien subject since "domestic Cats" are not categorised in "Cat Shows" as in most Countries, hence,there is no census of the various "cat Breeds" kept by pet owners in India.

I am trying my level best with a few like-minded people in Mumbai to organise "cat shows" but to date there seems to be no response unlike "Dog shows" which are very popular in India and also a thriving business.

I have bred "doll-Faced Persians" and made a documentary of their growth and behaviour posting the same on "youtube" for other 'cat Fanciers" as a guide and the response has been encouraging.

Only hope that a beginning is made in conducting "Cat Shows" in India as cats are the ideal pets for busy owners and small homes with restricted spaces as is common in India hence can be left alone at home unlike dogs.

As for "Feral Cats", they are numerous and unaccountable in India since unlike "Stray dogs" they are never destroyed or spayed but just allowed to remain feral.

Rudolph.A.Furtado


Jun 29, 2009 Hi Rudolph
by: Michael (PoC Admin)

Hi Rudolph, First, thanks for another contribution. I am particularly pleased to receive your submissions as you live in India, the home of so much great wildlife and wild cats.

It occurred to me that you might like to write a journal about the "Cats of India", meaning both domestic and wild.

I would like to know more about the domestic cat situation in India. How many purebred cats are there? How bad is the feral cat problem? What is the current government stance on tiger conservation etc. There are endless topics. And you are there!

I am not sure how it would work out but if you are interested please respond by leaving a comment or contacting me: mjbmeister[at]gmail.com

Thanks and once again thanks for your contributions.


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