Overview
- CCTV footage recorded in the early hours of Friday showed an adult leopard stalking, pouncing on and dragging a stray/community dog from the staff hostel area of IIT Bombay at about 2:30 am.
- Campus and local officials said no students, faculty or staff were injured and the animal left the scene before wildlife teams arrived.
- Authorities have increased night patrols across residential zones, urged people to avoid lone late-night movement and asked residents to report any sightings immediately.
- Wildlife experts and officials noted that IIT Bombay borders Sanjay Gandhi National Park and that leopards routinely move into nearby urban areas in search of food, with stray dogs often attracting them.
- The incident has renewed talks about nonlethal responses and technology such as enhanced CCTV and AI-based early-alert systems to monitor leopard movement while preserving the protected species.