The leopard and its employees were unharmed.
These days, news of production pauses is more frequent. The chip shortage impacted vehicle assembly, forcing automakers to idle some assembly lines or fit cars with fewer electronically-controlled features. The Mercedes-Benz plant in Chakan, India was the latest to temporarily halt operation.
The stoppage is not due to a chip shortage or slow sales. This is a first for Mercedes-Benz and most other automakers. The leopard entered the building and wandered around for several hours. The incident caused alarm among employees. However, they were able to ignore it.
Wildlife SOS and the Chakan Forest Department led the rescue efforts for the frightened and lost leopards around the plant. It was eventually located around the manufacturing plant and stayed close to piles of pallets and boxes. After the leopard stayed still for a while, it was calmed and moved away from the factory.
Wildlife SOS says that the leopard is a male and approximately three years old. The rescue took approximately four hours and plant operations were halted for six hours. The young leopard is currently being monitored by a medical team before it can be released into the wild.
Although headlines like this grab attention, they also reflect the habitat loss of wildlife. Wildlife SOS states that the proximity of forest patches in the surrounding areas is likely to be a factor in the leopard’s desire to travel towards the plant. According to the organization, it is possible that the leopard came from this area. The Mercedes-Benz assembly plant in Maharashtra is home to one of the largest leopard populations in the world.
There is always a chance that something similar could happen again. The incident was thankfully over with both humans and animals safe and sound.
In India, the Mercedes-Benz plant builds models like the C-Class Coupe, E-Class Coupe, S-Class and S-Class. The GLA, GLC and GLE are also manufactured at this plant. Since 2018, the same plant has been exporting GLC to the US.