Horse killed in leopard attack at Ambegaon

Pimpri Chinchwad: A horse was killed in a leopard attack at Avsari Budruk village in Ambegaon taluka early on Thursday.
“The leopard attacked the horse of shepherd, Ananta Dagade, around 1.30 am. The sheep and goats kept at the animal shed bleated loudly, waking him up. He called out for help but as his home is far away from human settlement, no one came to his rescue,” said Ashok Hinge, former deputy sarpanch, Avsari Budruk village.
He said that Dagade found the markings of a horse being dragged into the adjacent sugar cane fields. He later found the half eaten carcass.
Two days ago, a leopard had killed two foals belonging to a shepherd in Hingnemala, around 500 meters from Dagade’s home.
Avsari Budruk is around 9km from Manchar town in Ambegaon taluka. It lies in the leopard-prone areas of the district. Sheetal Shinde, forest guard, Manchar range, said, “Dagade had kept sheep, goats and horses in the open without any fencing. We found pugmarks of leopard at the site.”