India, May 13 -- The recent incident - wherein a leopard strayed into the premises of the Mercedes-Benz manufacturing plant at Chakan Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC), and was able to be trapped inside a cage placed within the plant premises only after nearly two days of intensive monitoring and rescue efforts - has once again highlighted the worrying link between poor waste management and increasing leopard movement in and around human settlements and industrial zones.

On May 9, a leopard strayed into the premises of the Mercedes-Benz manufacturing plant at Chakan MIDC and was captured moving around in CCTV footage, triggering panic among employees. Eventually, it got trapped inside a massive shop floor, forcing the...