Leopard on prowl in Maharashtra village rescued outside sugarcane field

PUNE: A major conflict between humans and wildlife was averted after a

leopard

was rescued recently in a daring operation in

Shirur

of Pune district.

Locals were panic-stricken after they spotted the adult leopard at a farmhouse bordering a sugarcane field. Earlier this week, the leopard was sighted in

Apati village

where it was wandering outside a farmhouse beside a sugarcane field.

They reported it to the state forest department and

Wildlife SOS

, a non-governmental organisation which has a rescue centre in

Junnar

. A rapid response unit was deployed around the village to a human-wildlife conflict situation.
A five-member team from Wildlife SOS was accompanied by forest officers and the police rushed to the spot armed with safety nets, restraining equipment and a trap cage. The team members followed a “careful” approach by using a food bait to lure it into the trap cage.

The rescue mission lasted several hours after which the 8-year-old female leopard was carefully transported to the leopard rescue centre run by Wildlife SOS at Manikdoh village in Junnar. The facility houses a transit home for leopards in peril or those caught in conflict situations. Currently, it has at least 30 leopards which cannot be released back into the wild.

Veterinary assistant at Wildlife SOS,

Mahendra Dhore

, said, “Rescue operations involving leopards can be dangerous and need careful planning in order to ensure the safety of the animal as well as of the people.”

Forest officer of Shirur range, Manohar Ramdev, said they have put up awareness boards across villages and have a team of 25 trained officers on standby to respond to such situations.”

Kartick Satyanarayan

, chief executive officer of Wildlife SOS, said “We are keeping the leopard under close observation while she recuperates from this stressful experience.”


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