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Posted by gandolfa am 2004/7/8 10:00:07  Mumbai:Deadly leopard attacks in Mumbai have inspired Bollywood director Animitra Chakravarty to make a documentary portraying the man-animal conflict in India's economic capital.
The 42-minute documentary, to be screened worldwide on the National Geographic channel, aims to highlight the problem of humans encroaching into animal sanctuaries and the need for ecological balance, Chakravarty told AFP
leopard attack.jpgLeopards have killed nine people and have mauled at least 20 others in the past two months, police said.
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"The film was made after we read reports that leopards were beginning to kill people in Mumbai. We have interviewed film stars like Amitabh Bachchan and Sanjay Dutt as well as famous environmentalists," he said.
"They all say how important it is to have people living in harmony with nature," the 33-year-old filmmaker said.
The frequency of attacks by the 33 big cats living in a 140-square kilometre national park just 35 kilometres from Mumbai's city center, have increased in the past year as human homes and illegal settlements nudge closer to their territory.
Dilshad Master, senior vice-president of National Geographic channel, said the film was titled "Leopards of Bollywood" because a large part was shot in Mumbai's film city nicknamed Bollywood, which is located close to a forest patch where leopards have been spotted.
She said the documentary would premiere in India on Thursday and be broadcast worldwide over the next two weeks.
Hundreds of people - mainly jobseekers - pour into Mumbai every day, putting more pressure on a city where the demand for housing is so intense that even finding a space in a slum next to a railway track is considered good fortune.
The only significant patch of green in the area is the Borivli National Park, which was set aside for the leopards but is now under pressure from illegal settlements on its borders.
"The film shows that we should not encroach on their land despite the pressure on housing," said Chakravarty.
The Borivli park and the famed Nairobi National Park are the only two wildlife havens left in the world situated on the periphery of large commercial cities.
"We had warned politicians and municipal authorities of the consequences of allowing illegal encroachments in and around the park," said Bittu Sehgal, a noted environmentalist and member of Board for Wildlife in Maharashtra state, of which Mumbai is the capital.
"These warnings were ignored. Today a sort of 'tipping point' has been reached," Sahgal told AFP.
Park authorities have caught seven leopards which had strayed out of the park in recent weeks.
Meanwhile, the state forest department is to study the prey-predator population estimates in the national park.
"We have now asked an expert to undertake the study and suggest short-term and long term measures to reduce man-animal conflict in the national park," said principal chief conservator of forest (wildlife) K. Subramanian.
The park management is also considering a suggestion to impose a "dusk-to-dawn" curfew, banning picnics and casual outings in the park.
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