Shoot ‘man-eater’ leopards in Pune: Forest minister

Pune's forest minister ordered the elimination of 'man-eater' leopards following a fatal attack, while announcing AI monitoring and sterilization plans.

State forest minister Ganesh Naik on Wednesday directed forest officials to eliminate leopards identified as ‘man-eaters’ in Pune district.

The minister said this during a public address at Pimparkhed village in Shirur, which has been at the centre of recent leopard-related incidents. (HT PHOTO)

The minister said this during a public address at Pimparkhed village in Shirur, which has been at the centre of recent leopard-related incidents. Addressing the gathering, he said, “The leopard population has risen sharply in Junnar and Shirur tehsils. If this trend continues, we might soon see leopards roaming the streets like stray dogs. It’s crucial to take serious measures for both population control and conflict prevention in Pune and Ahilyanagar districts.”

Commenting on the recent human-leopard conflicts, Naik said, “The department is on constant alert. Recently, we eliminated a leopard that was believed to be involved in an attack.” He directed chief conservator of forests (territorial) Jitendra Ramgaonkar to take similar action against any leopard identified as a man-eater in future.

His visit came nearly 10 days after a 13-year-old was killed in a leopard attack, prompting strong protests and demands for government action from local residents. Naik met the victim’s family and interacted with villagers, assuring them of decisive measures to prevent further attacks.

Naik announced plans to strengthen artificial intelligence-based early warning systems in both Pune and Ahilyanagar, similar to the model implemented in Chandrapur. “Soon, these regions will have an improved network of AI-enabled monitoring systems,” he said.

The minister also said that a proposal for leopard sterilisation has been sent to the Centre and the department is actively following up on it. “Under this initiative, 50 leopards will soon be relocated to the Vantara facility. We are also exploring the possibility of transferring some leopards to other states or even to South Africa,” he said.

Asked about the relocation plan, a senior official from the Junnar forest department said, “So far, we have not received any official communication or request regarding leopard relocation to South Africa. However, we are open to exploring this option if it comes up.”