The leopard rescue team from Manikdoh Leopard Rescue Center in Junnar and the forest department officials from Parner in Maharashtra's Ahmednagar district helped reunite the cub with its mother.
A 13-week-old leopard cub who accidentally got separated from its mother and could have ended up spending its entire life behind cages is back with her - thanks to the leopard rescue team from Manikdoh Leopard Rescue Center in Junnar and the forest department officials from Parner in Maharashtra's Ahmednagar district.
The male cub also became the 51st leopard cub to have been successfully reunited with its mother by the team at Manikdoh Leopard Rescue Center since 2009, which is run by Wildlife SOS.
It was on Wednesday around 2 pm that Pramod Ghanwat, a farmer from Wadegavhan village in Parner, found a three-month-old leopard cub close to his sugarcane field. He immediately picked the leopard cub and alerted the forest department. Since the locals had been spotting the mother leopard with her three cubs around their fields regularly, they demanded that forest department use the cub as a bait to trap the mother and her remaining two cubs so that they can be removed from the area.
Range Forest Officer (RFO) Manisha Bhinge said that as soon as they received information about the cub, their staff reached the village and even alerted the Leopard rescue team from Manikdoh as they are the experts in reuniting cubs. “The Shirur region has a significant leopard population and due to rapid loss of forest cover, these animals have found safe cover in the dense sugarcane fields. It’s reassuring to know that the reunited cub will be raised in the wild by his mother,” she said.
Watch the video of the runion here:
A team of four, led by Dr. Ajay Deshmukh - senior Veterinarian from Manikdoh Leopard Rescue Center in Junnar - drove 90km and reached by 5pm. “The locals wanted the leopard trapped but we spoke to the people and convinced them that it would be in best interest of everyone if the cub was re-united otherwise there could be a conflict situation as mother might come looking for the cub,” he said, adding that after carrying out medical check up of the cub they waited for night to reunite the cub.
The cub was kept in a plastic casket close to where it was found and camera traps were set up in the area and the forest staff and leopard rescue team moved out. “At around 12am the mother came for the cub and spent some time figuring out how to topple the casket kept on top and finally walked away with her cub,” Deshmukh said.
“Such reunions are also important to help curb conflict situations. If female leopards are unable to locate their cubs, it is natural for them to turn defensive or aggressive and they pose an immediate threat to humans in close proximity,” said Kartick Satyanarayan, Co-founder and CEO of Wildlife SOS.
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 "Leopard cub:")
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