Leopard Strays Into Mumbai Housing Society. Watch

A frightening video of a big leopard roaming freely inside a Mumbai housing society in the early hours on Friday has emerged online. It shows the animal moving around the parking area in complete silence as a milkman, unaware of the presence of the predator, heads towards it. As soon as he sees the leopard, he quietly retreats. The whole incident was captured by a CCTV camera installed in the society. The man then alerted the security guard of Green View Society in Bimbisar Nagar in Goregaon East.

The security guard then informed the secretary of the society who alerted the residents to remain inside their homes. After some time, the leopard returned to the jungle. Bimbisar Nagar is near the Aarey Milk Colony, the suburb closest to Sanjay Gandhi National Park, where leopards live.

The Aarey forest area is spread over nearly 40 square miles and is home to hundreds of species, including about 35 leopards. The area is one of the places in the metropolis from where leopards enter the city. Wildlife experts say most of the time leopards enter human habitats to get access to easy food.

The incident, which happened around 5 am, has triggered panic among the residents of the colony. Had it not been for the milk delivery man, no one would have possibly noticed the presence of a leopard in a residential housing colony.

Also, an image captured by a mobile phone camera shows the adult leopard prowling in the housing society for its prey.

This is not the first time a leopard has been sighted in a Mumbai housing society. In August last year, a leopard was spotted in the Andheri area. A security guard said he first thought it was a large dog but realised it was a leopard when he saw the animal striding into the surrounding forest.