Mumbai: Nine-year-old visually challenged female leopard found injured in the western ghats and rehabilitated at the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) here has now been adopted by a bureaucrat’s teenaged daughter.
According to a report in The Times of India, 17-year-old Vedangi, daughter of Mumbai Suburban collector Milind Borikar, adopted the wild cat.
“We were searching for an animal to adopt when SGNP officials told us about Koyna and we decided to make her part of our family. We are now happy to see her growing healthy as the staff take good care of her,” Borikar was quoted as saying by the national daily.
Vedangi had shown inclination in adopting a wild animal in 2019. The wish finally came true recently after government facilities allowed individuals and corporates to sponsor a wild animal for one year, the report said.
Leopard Koyna had severely damaged both her eyes in a sugar cane field which was set on fire in 2012.
An SGNP official said Koyna was brought to the park as it was thought that she won’t be able to survive in the jungle with her wounds. The staff took care of the wild cat once she was brought there and started looking for a patron.
“Koyna was brought here as she couldn’t have survived in the jungle due to her handicap. We reared her and were trying to find a patron for her till now. Many preferred healthy animals; there was no one to adopt Koyna and we were surprised and, at the same time, happy when Borikars showed interest,” the official was quoted.
