Faridabad: A leopard was found dead at Pali Chowk in Surajkund near Faridabad on Monday. While the real cause of leopard's death is yet to be ascertained, it is estimated that the wild animal died after being hit by a vehicle while crossing the road on Sunday night. The corpse of the leopard has been sent for post-mortem for further details.
Meanwhile, the Faridabad police is also viewing the CCTV cameras to get a lead of the real cause of death of the leopard.
"It is unfortunate that a leopard was found dead. We have sent the body for post-mortem and are waiting for results. Our initial investigations however have revealed that accident may have been the cause of death for the leopard," said a senior official from South Haryana Wildlife Department.
The death of a leopard has once again raised concerns on the safety of wild animals that are residing in Aravallis of Gurugram and Faridabad. In the same area of Pali in 2019 a 10 -month-old leopard died after being hit by a car while crossing the road.
There have been a number of incidents in the last few years where not only leopards but other wild animals like foxes, civet cats, nilgais have lost their lives due to accidents. Not only in Faridabad but such incidents are also seeing a rise in Gurugram.
With Aravallis in both Gurugram and Faridabad shrinking due to rapid urbanisation a large number of these animals often try coming out in search of food and water. With busy routes that have heavy traffic passing through Aravalli forests often these animals either die or receive injuries by vehicles passing on these routes.
For long, there have been demands to the wildlife department and Haryana Government to create a safe passage for animals to cross safely. Despite assurances however there has been no work done in this area.
A large number of green activists have raised concerns on shrinking of Aravallis and toxic groundwater reserves in the forests that force wild animals to venture outside and in turn risk their safety.