Seven Gujarati women are giving Bear Grylls a run for his money by re-scripting his blockbuster adventure series Man vs Wild with their own version of 'Women Vs Wild,' rescuing and tracking leopards in the wild.
Surat district's forest department has organised a squad of seven brave women to rescue leopards and tag them with RFID tags. This ragtag crew from the Khodamba round of the Mandvi range in Surat district has proven their mettle by successfully rescuing and RFID-tagging 20 leopards this year.
Surprisingly, these women no longer fear leopards and feel that wild cats are not human adversaries. Pooja Singh, a beat forest guard, stated, “once we were controlling fire in Mandvi range of the forest when a leopard crossed us a few feet away. It was one of the closest encounters. But since we are trained, our team did not react and the feline left the spot.”
These women perceive interactions with human rage, such as the one in Madharkui village, to be more life-threatening than encounters with animals. Range forester Neha Chaudhari expressed her opinion, “in one of the toughest rescue operations, we caged a leopard from Madharkui village forest after it killed a four-year-old girl. However, we could leave the village with the animal alive only after firing in the air.”
After receiving a request for rescue, the team inspects the site, forms a rescue plan, and deploys cages and trap cameras to catch the animal's activity. The leopard's traces are also examined by the crew.
U D Raulji, Mandvi's range forest officer, remarked, “besides leopards, the team also rescues injured monkeys and treat injured birds during Uttrayan.”
Surat's deputy conservator of forests, Puneet Nayyar, said, “they work in the most sensitive areas of wildlife and forest cover. The women’s team is doing a brilliant job of rescuing and managing locals.”
Surat's Chief Conservator of Forests, C K Sonawane, underlined, “they are the most committed and highly motivated team who are powerful in multiple ways. They set examples for other women. It is a matter of pride for the forest department.”
