Mumbai, May 10 (IANS): Escaping a furious chase by a leopard down a hillock, a large spotted deer fell on a slum roof, crashed through it and landed in the tiny single room of the bewildered family of Savita Singh, on Sunday, officials said.
The incident occurred early hours on Sunday at the Hanuman Tekdi slum colony, adjacent to the IIT-Bombay Campus when the deer took flight in the dark to evade the claws and jaws of the hungry leopard pursuing it.
In the hot chase, the deer apparently slipped down the hillock onto the roof of a tenement, broke it and landed with a loud thud on the floor, stunning the groggy occupants.
As they gathered their wits, some locals made an SOS call to the forest department, said Wildlife Warden Pawan Sharma.
"I am calling from Powai, there is a Deer fallen inside my neighbour's house, we need help," was the distress call.
Despite the lockdown, the Forest Department's Mumbai Range immediately mounted a 7-member rescue operation along with Sharma's RAWW, to save the large herbivore.
Amidst hundreds of excited slum dwellers crowding around to gawk at the morning spectacle, the rescue team managed to reach the home, collect the deer and shift it in a wildlife ambulance.
"It was immediately taken to Sanjay Gandhi National Park's Rescue Centre for further medical examination and rehabilitation," Sharma said later.
A local social activist P.S. Menon said luckily, the huge deer seemed to have escaped any visible injuries.
Even the tenement dwellers, who were sleeping barely a couple of feet away from where it crashed were unhurt, and there was no damage to household articles like the fan, TV, gas, cupboards, bed, etc.
"The deer appeared shocked and shaken but remained calm, motionless, watching the strange surroundings, and was later taken away without much fuss," Menon added.
During the ongoing lockdown, Mumbaikars have witnessed a lot of hitherto invisible wildlife like flocks of peacocks, kingfishers, dolphins, deers, foxes, mongoose, large snakes, etc as the roads are largely free of traffic or human crowds.