Forest dept. on alert for stray Indian bison seen in Matheran | Mumbai news - Hindustan Times
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Forest dept. on alert for stray Indian bison seen in Matheran

ByPrayag Arora-Desai
Mar 22, 2023 12:59 AM IST

The animal was first seen in the woods near popular tourist spot Louisa Point, on the morning of March 19, after which it was seen about 3kms away at Maldoonga Point late on March 20 (the animal’s last confirmed location).

Mumbai: The forest department is on the lookout for an adult male gaur (Indian bison), which is on the loose near Matheran hill station, in Raigad district. The animal was first seen in the woods near popular tourist spot Louisa Point, on the morning of March 19, after which it was seen about 3kms away at Maldoonga Point late on March 20 (the animal’s last confirmed location).

Forest dept. on alert for stray Indian bison seen in Matheran
Forest dept. on alert for stray Indian bison seen in Matheran

The gaur was earlier seen in the foothills of Matheran, reportedly near Dhodhani village in Panvel, where it was chased by a pack of stray dogs and heckled by onlookers. In December last year, a stray gaur had been seen in Malang Gad, under the Dombivali forest range, and it has been speculated that the same animal may have made its way now to Matheran, and is unable to find its way back through the hilly regions of Kalyan-Satara, which has become increasingly fragmented due to road building projects.

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Umesh Jangam, range forest officer, Matheran, said, “It could be the same animal, but it’s hard to say with any confidence. Though many residents are saying that this is the first sighting of a gaur in Matheran, our staffers say that they have seen herds in this forest range before. People are advised not to chase the animal, follow it, or agitate it in anyway. We have warned people living in the foothills to not disturb the gaur if they see it. It’s a silent animal, but it is massive and can seriously injure people if it charges at them.”

“We are trying to track the animal so we can nudge it toward the nearest patch of contiguous forest. Then it can either move to toward the Murbad-Shahapur area, or toward Bhimashankar Wildlife Sanctuary. If it moves south, then we can nudge it in the direction of Karnala Bird Sanctuary where there is a population of gaur. It could have come from as far south as Phansad Wildlife Sanctuary, too,” Jangam added.

Ashish Thakare, deputy conservator of forests (Alibaug division), also said that the forest department is on high alert for the animal, and that range officers in Dombivali, Karjat, Alibaug and Navi Mumbai have also been told to keep an eye out for it.

“The gaur has not entered any conflict situation, which is good, but you can’t be too sure. We’re doing our best to find the animal and lead it to a safe location. It’s almost impossible to say where the animal has originally come from, but there are suitable habitats nearby where it can live,” Thakare said.

Gaurs are the world’s largest and tallest wild bovines, with 85% of their global population estimated to be in India. Male gaurs weigh 1,000-1,500kg while females weigh 700g-1,000kg. Their height ranges from 165-220cm (5-7ft). They are listed as Schedule I species under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 and are classified as “vulnerable” in the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List of threatened species globally.

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