The installation of a trap cage to capture a leopard in Malad East, triggered solely by a sighting inside a housing society, has raised questions over the forest department’s response.

As per protocol, leopards or tigers are typically trapped only in cases of confirmed human-animal conflict or when the animal is stranded in a human-dominated landscape with no safe escape. Such action also requires approval from senior wildlife authorities like the principal chief conservator of forests (wildlife) or the chief wildlife warden.