State forest dept’s plan to set up 2 leopard rescue centres at Nashik and Ahilyanagar takes shape

Nashik: The state forest department has firmed up its plans to establish two new leopard rescue centres in Nashik (Mhasrul) and Ahilyanagar (Rahuri taluka) with a collective capacity to house 500 big cats. The move comes in view of rising man-animal conflicts in the two north Maharashtra districts.Confirming the developments, chief conservator of forest (territorial) of Nashik region G Mallikarjuna told TOI that the department had already written to the Central Zoo Authority seeking its nod to set up the two centres. "The two centres will come up on 50 hectares of forest land each that has already been identified. The Ahilyanagar centre will have the capacity to house over 200 leopards, while the Nashik centre will be able to to keep more than 300 big cats. The work on setting up the two centres would start as soon as the department gets the green signal from Central Zoo Authority," he said.At present, there are three such centres in the state — Sanjay Gandhi National Park in Mumbai, Manikdoh Leopard Rescue Centre in Junnar (rural Pune) and Gorewada Rescue Centre in Nagpur. Sources in the forest department said there was an urgent need to set up the two new centres as the trapping and rescue of big cats in Nashik and Ahilyanagar had gone up significantly over the last few years. "The leopard trappings in these two districts have gone up amid a rise in the human-animal conflicts. About a decade back, there was hardly any leopard trapping in the two districts," a source from the department said.In the last year alone, more than 43 big cats were trapped and rescued in the two districts. "At least 10 people were killed in Nashik district alone in leopard attacks in 2025.," the source said, citing forest department data.In Nashik district, the forest department has prepared a long-term plan to tackle the man-animal conflict in the district, for which Rs 20 crore has been allocated by the district administration. "There is pressure on the existing three centres to house the rescued big cats from Nashik region. Hence, the department has decided to establish the two new centres," a forest department official said. These centres will be completely enclosed and the department will provide manpower to look after them.