Bang in the middle of India’s most populated city, Mumbai, is Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP), the area of which is 104 sq km. It has two huge lakes, which partly takes care of Mumbai’s drinking water requirements. Unfortunately, there is no data available on how much carbon dioxide it sinks and how much fresh air it releases over this polluted city. But, as you can imagine, the national park offers a slice of nature inside this ultra dense city.

There is an interesting experiment happening these days in the SGNP where Mumbaikars, scientists, researchers and park managers are trying to look for ways to coexist in harmony with the wildlife around them. Sunil Limaye, chief conservator and director of SGNP, started this initiative. He got the researchers to carry out scientific data collection. According to him though mere scientific data collection is not enough but a synergy among stakeholders must also be developed. This, he hopes, would motivate everyone involved to save the forest and wildlife.

Some times in this silent city forest, top predator leopard attracts negative publicity because of its tendency to attack humans. But thankfully, since 2007, there has been no human deaths caused by leopards around the main park. It is possible that some unethical practices were being followed to bring down such incidents, perhaps making leopards suffer in the bargain. These kinds of incidents do not occur often if animals are left to themselves. But we know so little about why the otherwise shy creature should lose its fear of people and attack them. Basic data on SNGP leopard’s biology is not available. We are not aware of these leopards’ predatory behaviour, how much area they range over and how frequently and how far they walk out of the park. We do not know if there is enough natural prey available for these leopards and which other predators — such as hyena — coexist with them. Without proper information, it is difficult to understand conflict as well as ways to effectively manage it.

Mumbaikars for SGNP forum is headed by Vidya Athreya, a well-known biologist, who use methodologies such as camera traps to obtain evidence of leopard presence, prey occupancy studies for determining prey population and scat analysis so the dietary behaviour can be studied. Vidya believes that if science is shared with citizens, some progress can be made but it is for Mumbaikars to decide whether all the good that comes with the leopards and the forest —clean air, water and greenery — is needed by them or not. Ultimately, if it is a yes, then saving of this is also in the hands of Mumbaikars. But Mumbaikars have shown that they are determined to achieve this task and are slowly growing and gathering momentum to save the forest and its species.

Limaye, on his part is also motivating the local staff through training sessions, workshops and refresher courses. This type of joint action will be the only method by which this busy city forest can be saved, because finally its fate lies in the hands of its citizens.

(The writer is a conservation biologist at

Tiger Watch, Ranthambore)