04/12/2025
On 2nd December, I attended an educational event on the topic of "Rewilding" at London organised by London National Park City.
Here, Digby Wheeler, Urban Rewilding Officer from Citizen Zoo presented an example of Leopards of Sanjay Gandhi National Park - SGNP of Mumbai (see image). Having worked on rewilding projects myself in Maharashtra including SGNP and having witnessed a leopard in the eco sensitive zone of SGNP, the feeling of seeing our local hero on an international screen gave me goosebumps.
On many occasions in different parts of the world, leopards of Mumbai, Maharashtra have been shown as an example of peaceful coexistence with the urban world.
But in their own homeland, they are unwanted! Sadly a few weeks ago, the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis urged the Union Government to bring down the protection status of these majestic animals from Schedule I to Schedule II of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 because of the recent few cases of wildlife conflicts in Pune. He has termed the leopards attacking humans as man-eaters without much scientific evidence. He has also proposed sterlisation to control leopards again without any backing of scientific research.
While the known fact is that the natural areas all around India, the only home to a diverse yet shy wildlife are being destroyed at a rapid speed over the last 12 years by the very government which is meant to protect it. The greed of unlimited urbanisation because of which the human-wildlife conflicts have risen exponentially is like never before.
While PM Modi enjoyed the PR around bringing African Cheetahs, would CM Fadnavis pack these native wildcats off to Ambanis as new year presents? On a closer look the government should realised how the indigenous locals i.e., the tribals of SGNP and Aarey Forest consider leopards as their family members and feel no harm from them as their generations have lived with many carnivores before...not just leopards.
The two gods they believe in are - Hirva Dev (nature god) and Waghoba (wildcat). The urban Mumbaikars, see leopards as a strong, vibrant icon of their city. They also help in keeping a check on population of feral animals like dogs, cats and pigs which could be problematic to other wild species. There are many young people who work on leopard conservation in Mumbai and Maharashtra as well. Thanks to their efforts, leopards of SGNP and Aarey Forest are not just safe but also documented well.
Many also see this move of Fadnavis as a step to empty out SGNP and its Eco Sensitive Zone from its prime predator. Just the way his government has been trying to vacate the native tribals. So that it becomes easier and faster to push more projects like the recent Metro Car-shed and Twin tunnel in Sanjay Gandhi National Park and its eco-sesitive zone while risking Mumbaikars' health and safety. Mumbai recorded the worst AQI in the month of November 2025 which was around 200 and also almost touching 300 in certain areas which is considered unsafe (for context, anything below 50 is considered good). Because of destruction of natural areas, many areas in Mumbai which never saw floods have experienced floods during the monsoon time also leading to deaths.
Another aspect which was spoken about during the Rewilding event in London was Right to Access Nature. In Mumbai, finding a green space or even a patch of soil is rare. This raises stress levels. The cases of hypertension and related issues is on rise due to long and stressful working hours, travelling for work, etc whith no natural outlet to relax and de-stress.
Worldwide, governments are waking up to bring back native species and protecting their habitats realising their role as ecosystem engineers and keystone species to fix grave environmental, climate and social issues of pollution, draughts, floods and even economies; while in India we still see a trend of development over nature. Any thoughts how do we change this scenario?
This opinion piece is written by Sushant Bali who is an eco-restoration practitioner and has voiced for environmental campaigns in Mumbai and the UK.
Rewilding projects Sushant is associated with are listed here: https://mymicroforests.com/
