Rescued by villager, leopard cub united with mother in MP

The cub lost its way in the Harrai forest range of the district when Jaswant Singh, a resident of Dhadhara village, spotted it. Stray dogs were trying to corner the cub

Updated on: Jul 15, 2021, 13:01:06 IST

By Shruti Tomar

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A villager rescued a month-old leopard cub and helped the forest department in reuniting it with its mother within hours earlier this week in Chhindwara district of Madhya Pradesh.

The female leopard approaches its cub warily, late on Tuesday night. (Sourced)

The cub lost its way in the Harrai forest range of the district when Jaswant Singh, a resident of Dhadhara village, spotted it this Tuesday. Stray dogs were trying to corner the cub. “I shooed the dogs away but they started following me so I kept the cub in a bag. I reached the forest outpost of Dhadhara and informed the forest official,” said Singh.

Chhindwara south, divisional forest official (DFO), Akhil Bansal said, “The duty officers were surprised when they saw the man with a bag holding a leopard cub. After first aid, we kept the cub in a cage for the night.”

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“We set up a camera trap to keep a vigil on the cub. Late in the night, the mother reached the spot and took the cub with her,” said the DFO.

This is the result of a sensitisation programme of the forest department which we are running in the nearby villages to end man-animal conflict, he said.

Madhya Pradesh has 3,421 leopards and earned itself the tag of leopard state for having the highest population of the animal in the country, according to the Union environment ministry’s ‘Status of Leopards in India 2018’ report released in 2020.

(With inputs from Bhojraj Raghuvanshi from Chhindwara)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Shruti Tomar
I have spent over a decade chronicling Madhya Pradesh’s political and social landscape, covering politics, investigative journalism, crime, human interest, and government policy, blending sharp insight with ground‑level depth. I have closely tracked three assembly elections, three Lok Sabha elections, leadership transitions in MP while exposing governance lapses, tender irregularities, and flawed policy rollouts. My reports have revealed gaps in the Cheetah project, irregularities in medical education, rigging in recruitment exams, and loopholes in policy implementation. In crime reporting, I have moved beyond FIRs to map systemic patterns — from organised crime networks and gender‑based violence to custodial accountability — balancing urgency with sensitivity. My journalism is defined by a commitment to human interest. I have profiled the marginalised Bancchda community, documented atrocities against tribal groups, and highlighted efforts to preserve their culture through heritage liquor and revival of spiritual practices. I have reported on farmers struggling with failed MSP promises, giving voice to those often reduced to statistics in policy files. Passionate about field reporting, I have reported on rampant sand mining in Chambal and Narmada, pharmaceutical companies supplying medicines under altered names, the dire condition of schools and colleges, the plight of commercial sex workers, and skewed sex ratios in specific districts. Beyond deadlines, and as HT’s state correspondent and assistant editor in Madhya Pradesh, I engage with ministers, farmers, students, and activists, believing the best policy stories begin with a single human voice. A postgraduate in Journalism and Mass Communication, I also hold a diploma in sports journalism.Read More