Leopard enters Maruti’s Manesar plant, rescued after 6 hours of search operation

Manesar and its surrounding areas have experienced repeated incidents of leopards wandering into industrial or residential zones due to their proximity to the Aravallis.

A male leopard — around three years old — that strayed into the Maruti Suzuki campus in Manesar on Friday morning was rescued by the wildlife department after a six-hour search. The animal was first spotted around 7.30am. Within 20 minutes, a team of eight wildlife officials arrived with a cage, nets and tranquiliser guns to rescue it. They cordoned off the campus, urging company employees to stay away from the premises. Around 2.30pm, the team tranquilised the animal and moved it into the cage. The leopard, which was believed to have strayed from the adjoining Aravallis, evaded detection for hours before being spotted in a thicket inside the campus, said a wildlife official, adding that the animal will be released into its natural habitat later.

“The leopard is in good health and shows no signs of stress or injury. Our priority was to ensure a safe rescue without any harm to the animal and people. We set up a net trap in the area to ensure that it doesn’t venture into the Maruti plant. It’s a subadult and not fully independent. So, we could rescue it easily,” said divisional wildlife officer RK Jangra, who was involved in the operation.

Manesar and its surrounding areas have experienced repeated incidents of leopards wandering into industrial or residential zones due to their proximity to the Aravallis. Wildlife experts said habitat fragmentation, a shrinking prey base and extensive construction activities in the region are driving big cats into human-dominated areas.

This is not the first time Maruti’s facilities in Manesar have faced such a situation. In 2017, a leopard entered the company’s Manesar plant, one of its key manufacturing units, causing a temporary halt in operations. At that time, forest officials deployed traps and conducted searches before rescuing the animal.

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