On Friday, a full grown male fox was found in the heart of the city near the Masunda Lake which is known as the talaopali.

On December 19, a leopard had strayed out of the SGNP forest. The forest officials could trap it only after 18 hours, but till then it had injured two people. Fortunately, the fox did not hurt anyone as it was already in trauma after being chased by dogs, said forest officials. The lake is the hot spot for joggers and senior citizens in the morning.

Interestingly, the fox was saved by a ragpicker named Guddu Sheikh. “The dogs were chasing the fox and it hid in the grass on the banks of Masunda Lake. Sheikh also tied a rope around its neck and brought it out, locked him in the small makeshift room near the lake,” said Laske.

“He also informed us about the fox. He not only handed us over the custody of the fox, but saved it from dogs,” added Laske.

The forest officials later examined the fox to see whether the animal was injured or not.

Meanwhile, the forest officials said that it was difficult to say from where the fox strayed into the city.

“He could have strayed out of the mangroves along the Thane creek, which is quite near to the lake, for food,” said Sanjay Laske, the range forest officer of the Thane. “Fox are known to dwell in the mangrove forest and the mangroves here have a sizebale number of fox.”