As part of its proposal to relocate 50 leopards to the Vantara animal rehabilitation facility in Jamnagar, Gujarat, the Junnar forest division has identified 20 leopards for the first phase of transfer. These leopards were captured from the Shirur and Junnar tehsils over the past one-and-a-half month and are currently housed at the Manikdoh Leopard Rescue Centre (MLRC) in Junnar.
Significantly, the Junnar forest department on November 10, 2025 received approval from the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) to relocate 50 leopards to the Vantara facility. The proposal to relocate the leopards comes hard on the heels of an alarming rise in the human-leopard conflict in Pune district. Meanwhile, a team from Vantara arrived in Junnar on Tuesday, and visited both the MLRC and Pimparkhed village in Shirur where a leopard attack-related fatality was recently reported.
Assistant conservator of forests (ACF) Smita Rajhans said, “We have received approval from the CZA and are now awaiting their formal communication, which is expected to outline the relocation guidelines. The process will be carried out in a phased manner as the Vantara facility currently has the capacity to accommodate only 20 leopards. The remaining animals (30) will be shifted once adequate infrastructure is developed. We have communicated this to both the CZA and Vantara authorities. Meanwhile, the Vantara team visited Junnar today to assess the situation and begin preparations for the facilities required to shift the leopards.”
Rajhans said that of the 20 leopards captured, five are from Junnar and 15 from Shirur and that the leopards are currently housed in cages at the MLRC. The department now awaits clarification from the CZA on whether only captive leopards can be transferred or recently captured leopards can be included in the first batch. “In either case, we already have a ready batch of 20 leopards, and if the CZA directs us to send captive ones, the newly captured animals will later be shifted to vacant enclosures,” she said.
{{/usCountry}}Rajhans said that of the 20 leopards captured, five are from Junnar and 15 from Shirur and that the leopards are currently housed in cages at the MLRC. The department now awaits clarification from the CZA on whether only captive leopards can be transferred or recently captured leopards can be included in the first batch. “In either case, we already have a ready batch of 20 leopards, and if the CZA directs us to send captive ones, the newly captured animals will later be shifted to vacant enclosures,” she said.
{{/usCountry}}The upcoming relocation to Vantara is being seen as a long-term measure to ease the pressure on both rural populations and the forest department, which has struggled to manage the rising number of leopards rescued from human habitats.
This will be the second time that Maharashtra will send its leopards to Vantara. The first batch of eight leopards from Junnar’s MLRC was relocated in March 2024 under a pilot initiative aimed at decongesting rescue centres and reducing the human-leopard conflict in Pune district. Following that move, Vantara’s animal care team submitted encouraging reports about the manner in which the relocated leopards adapted to their new surroundings.
Currently, Pune district has an estimated 1,300 leopards, mostly concentrated in Junnar, Ambegaon, Shirur, and Mulshi tehsils. Despite extensive awareness drives and capture efforts, over 35 leopard-related human fatalities and 60 serious injuries have been reported in the district over the past five years. Since April this year, at least five people have lost their lives in leopard attacks across Junnar and Shirur tehsils. The incidents led to mounting pressure from residents and local representatives to shift these leopards from the affected areas. In response, the forest department convened an emergency meeting with senior officials from the Pune and Junnar divisions and subsequently decided to relocate 50 leopards to Vantara. A formal communication to this effect was made to Vantara authorities in the first week of October, and the Vantara authorities responded positively to the plan. The forest department submitted the detailed relocation proposal to the CZA in the first week of November.