It was on Tuesday (March 5) evening that the helpless cub was spotted close to sugarcane fields by local farmers who were returning from their fields and immediately alerted Prayjot Palve, Range Forest Officer, Junnar.
A 9-week old male leopard cub separated from his mother, which was found by local farmers in Nagapur village in Pune district on Tuesday, was safely re-united with his mother the same evening by Forest department and a team from Manikdoh Leopard Rescue Center (MLRC) in Junnar.
It was on Tuesday evening that the helpless cub was spotted close to sugarcane fields by local farmers who were returning from their fields and immediately alerted Prayjot Palve, Range Forest Officer, Junnar and soon the team at MLRC, which is run by Wildlife SOS was also alerted after which a four-member team led by Senior veterinarian, Dr Ajay Deshmukh accompanied by a team of forest officers reached the village and found the cub to be healthy and fit for release after a thorough medical examination.
Even as the team began preparation for reuniting the cub with its mother, the scared villagers who wanted the leopard cub to be taken away from their village began opposing the plans.
“We face such situations at most of the villages as locals do not want another leopard to grow in their farmland fearing increasing conflict and here too we explained to the locals that taking away the cub might enrage the female leopard even more who is already in stress after losing her cub and could come in aggressive mode and villagers should soon understand,” said Deshmukh adding that around 6.30 pm their team carefully and securely placed the cub in a safe box close to the site where the cub was found and even installed a remote-controlled camera trap to document the reunion process, while monitoring the area from a distance.
"After almost about three hours of wait, finally the female leopard made its way from the neighbouring forest patches sniffing around looking for her cub. “On finding her cub in the safe box she looked around to ensure the safety and toppled the box to find her cub, at one point she was even startled by her own cub calling out to her. She safely carried away her cub holding him by his neck leaving us joyous and cheering as we completed our 52nd successful rescue and reunion operation of a leopard cub,” shared Deshmukh.
Kartick Satyanarayan, co-founder and CEO of Wildlife SOS said that the number of leopard sightings and conflicts increase during the pre-harvest and harvest season, because the dense and tall vegetation makes for a convenient shelter for the leopards to breed in and nurture their cubs. “We have been working closely with the forest department to raise awareness about these issues in man-leopard conflict-prone villages which has now brought about a considerable and positive change in the attitude of people towards leopards who now view them as co-habitants instead of enemies.”
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
 "Photo: Wildlife SOS")
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}