An adult leopard, which had caused a panic among local residents, was rescued by the Maharashtra Forest Department and Wildlife SOS from a farmhouse in Shirur in Pune district on Thursday.
The leopard was spotted earlier in the week in Apati Gaon in Shirur wandering outside a farmhouse located next to a sugarcane field. This was immediately reported to the Forest Department and Junnar-based NGO Wildlife SOS who were requested to deploy a rapid response unit at the location to avert a human-wildlife conflict situation.
A press release from Wildlife SOS said that its five-member team accompanied by forest officers and the police rushed to the location with safety nets, restraining equipment and a trap cage. Since operations of this level can be quite nerve-wracking, the team had to exercise caution while approaching the large and powerful feline. A more careful approach was used by using a food bait to lure it into a trap cage.
The rescue team with safety net, restraining equipment and trap cage at Apati Gaon in Shirur.
The rescue mission lasted several hours after which the leopard was carefully transported to the Manikdoh Leopard Rescue Centre in Junnar. The facility provides a transit home for leopards in peril or caught in conflict situations and currently houses over 30 leopards who cannot be released back into the wild. The leopard has been identified as an eight-year-old female, and is under temporary observation by Wildlife SOS veterinarians.
Kartick Satyanarayan, co-founder and CEO of Wildlife SOS, said, “We are keeping the leopard under close observation while she recuperates from this stressful experience. The area surrounding Shirur and Junnar is right in the middle of leopard territory as the large swathes of sugarcane fields provide ideal hiding grounds for the big cat. During the harvest season, conflict situations tend to escalate as the leopards get displaced from their sheltered homes.”
Mahendra Dhore, Wildlife SOS veterinary assistant, said that rescue operations involving leopards can be dangerous and need careful planning to ensure the safety of the animal and the people. “It is crucial that we spread awareness among the public on issues of conflict mitigation, sensitise people and encourage them to be more tolerant of wild animals,” Mr. Dhore said.
Manohar Ramdev Mhasekar, RFO, Shirur, said that awareness boards had been put up across villages. They have a team of 25 trained officers on standby to respond to such situations. The Indian leopard (Panthera pardus fusca) is a Schedule I species, protected under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 and is listed as ‘Vulnerable’ under the IUCN Red Data List.
