The news of vehicle manufacturing plants pausing production these days is less shocking than it may have been in the past, the chip shortage being one of the major factors for this.
A Mercedes-Benz plant in Chakan, India, however, had to temporarily halt production due to something completely different and somewhat intriguing. A three-year old male leopard somehow wandered into the manufacturing plant where the C-Class, E-Class, S-Class, and CLA Coupé are manufactured, as well as GLA, GLC, GLE, and GLS crossovers. This understandably caused some alarm for many employees, as well as the cat whose frightened disposition can only be imagined by anyone who owns a domesticated cat.
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Luckily, neither the leopard nor any of the employees were injured, the employees not taking matters into their own hands but rather calling the Chakan Forest Department and Wildlife SOS. They then led the rescue of the lost and frightened leopard which took around four hours while they waited for the leopard to stay in one place for long enough for it to be safely tranquilised. The leopard will be released into the wild following medical observation.
Wildlife SOS commented that the leopard likely headed towards the plant due to its location, its adjoining areas surrounded by forest patches, as well as the fact that the Maharashtra region has one of the largest leopard population densities in the world. This incident also brings into sharp focus habitat loss for wildlife, in particular in a region such as this with such rich biodiversity.
As a result, it would not be surprising for something like this to happen again, and if so, hopefully the same outcome of no harm being done prevails.
Keyword: Stray leopard pauses Mercedes-Benz production in India