Bijal Trivedi - National Geographic Channel In Bombay during 2003 and 2004 more than 30 people were killed, and many more attacked, by leopards living right in the middle of the city. South of Los Angeles, in the sun-bleached hills of Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park, a mountain lion killed a biker and savagely attacked another who was torn from the cat's vice-like jaws by frantic cyclists in a tug-o-war... Wherever wilderness meets the relentless rumble of development, conflict between man and beast is inevitable. There is no clearer illustration of this war than in the megalopolises of Los Angeles and Bombay where both cities are tangling with powerful carnivores—both with the potential to be man-eaters. The harrowing story of these attacks and the nerve-wracking hunt to track and trap these animals before they kill again is the focus of National Geographic Explorer's Killer Cats. The tale begins in the poverty-stricken slums of Bombay where the leopards have preyed on people and where Ashok Khadse, India's top leopard wrangler, undertakes the nail-biting task of catching the killers. Thousands of miles away Ray Sauvajot and his team perform their risky day jobs of catching and tracking mountain lions while another team mounts a terrifying sting operation to kill the rogue lion that is attacking bikers. Mountain lions have been protected in California since 1990 but that protection is not extended to cats that have killed people. In India, by contrast, it is illegal to kill leopards—they must be caught alive and released outside the city. In Bombay the problem stems from a 36 square mile island of wilderness right in the middle of the city—the Sanjay Gandhi National Park. It's a chunk of land that dwarfs New York City's Central Park by about 30-fold. But this urban park is also home to an estimated 33 leopards. The park was originally set on the jungle-draped hills on the outskirts of Bombay, but it is now completely enveloped by the burgeoning city, home to an estimated 18 million. A thick belt of luxury high-rises and slums are tightening around the steadily shrinking perimeter. As people encroach on the leopards' turf, bringing trash that attracts hordes of stray dogs, the cats are colliding more frequently with humans. In the wild, leopards typically need about 10 square miles of turf to roam and hunt. In this park there are about 30 leopards too many and they are now traveling beyond their leafy homes and prowling the borders for food. Dining predominantly on a diet of stray dogs, many have become bold, actually entering homes and snatching people from their beds as they sleep. On the other side of the globe, mountain lions—also known as cougars, catamounts, panthers, and pumas—are stealthy creatures that prefer to stay out of sight. Cougars traditionally hunt deer, but one animal strayed and attacked two people on the very same day in January 2004. Baffled wildlife officials and ecologists were tasked with tracking the animal before it killed again. Two attacks in one day—on a popular hiking and biking trail south of LA—is shocking considering the state is home to thousands of mountain lions that have killed only four people in California since 1890. Both mountain lions and leopards rely on the 'death bite' to kill their victims. Seizing prey at the base of the neck the dagger-like canines pierce flesh and bone eventually snapping the spine and paralyzing their prey... it's quick and efficient. A mountain lion can weigh up to 200 pounds, span eight feet from nose to tail, leap 40 feet in a single bound and down prey up to four times its weight. Each week it needs about 100 pounds of meat to survive. To figure out why attacks might be on the rise, scientists with the National Parks Service are tracking several mountain lions to see where these creatures roam. After trapping, tranquilizing and tagging various lions a satellite receiver pinpoints the cats' locations four times a day. Each month the data is downloaded. The data paints a shocking picture of one lion's turf—near residential homes in Malibu, popular hiking trails and picnicking spots. All are possible locations for run-ins with humans, yet man and beast only rarely meet eye to eye. In Bombay, the technological support is sparse and Khadse—who has caught more than 100 cats in the last five years-must track the rogue leopards by visiting the sites of their most recent kill, promising traumatized friends and family that the animal will be caught. Khadse intends to ensnare the leopards with traps baited with dogs. But his task becomes increasingly urgent when he discovers that leopard cubs are using human children for hunting practice—a deadly game that could reinforce the taste for human flesh making man killing the norm. Watch the National Geographic Channel for their presentation of Killer Cats, which documents the leopard and mountain lion attacks, the identification of victims and the terrifying task of hunting the hunters. In a final showdown, helicopters mounted with infrared camera gear and gun-toting police on the ground combine their efforts to kill the mountain lion—in the dark. In Bombay, with far fewer resources Khadse, armed with a good track record and pure nerve, begins to see results as his dog-baited traps lure the leopards from their lairs.