Three leopards captured in past 24 hours in Shirur tehsil
Officials said that at least 30 leopards have been captured from the Shirur forest range over the past one month and shifted to the MLRC
Three leopards have been captured in the last 24 hours by forest officials in Shirur tehsil. Of the three: one was captured from the Ranjangaon Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) area; another from Rawdewadi; and the third from Pimparkhed village, where a human death was reported recently. In a separate incident, a leopard that had fallen into a well in Fakate village was rescued. All four animals have been shifted to the Manikdoh Leopard Rescue Centre (MLRC) in Junnar.
Officials said that at least 30 leopards have been captured from the Shirur forest range over the past one month and shifted to the MLRC.
Nilkanth Gavhane, range forest officer, Shirur, said, “On Tuesday, we received information from LG company in Ranjangaon MIDC about a leopard sighting. Our team visited the site and carried out an inspection. The leopard was not found at the time however we intimated all nearby companies about the leopard’s presence and urged them to be careful of leopard movement. On Wednesday, we received a video from employees of FIAT company about the leopard’s movement. The team rushed to the spot and installed cages in the company premises. The leopard was captured successfully early morning on Thursday, December 4.”
On the same day, another leopard was captured from Pimparkhed village in Shirur tehsil. A day before, a leopard had been captured from Rawdewadi village in Shirur tehsil. All three leopards were shifted to the MLRC on Thursday, an officer said.
Elsewhere in Fakate village, Shirur tehsil, a three-year-old female leopard was rescued early on Wednesday, December 3, after falling into a well. Farmer Navnath Dattu Shelar spotted the animal when starting his field’s water pump and immediately informed local activist Shankar Pingale, who then informed the forest officials. The forest department’s rescue team, led by Mahendra Date, soon reached the spot. With proper safety measures, the team lowered a cage and successfully lifted the animal out of the well. The leopard was later shifted to the MLRC.
Manikdoh facility overloaded, forest dept. faces huge challenge
The Manikdoh Leopard Rescue Facility (MLRF) in Junnar is currently housing 105 leopards captured and rescued from across the Junnar forest division. The number is more than double the facility’s actual capacity of 45 leopards. With the centre now overwhelmed and no clear guidelines on handling the captured leopards, authorities are facing a huge challenge.
Smita Rajhans, assistant conservator of forests, Junnar forest department, said, “The number of leopards in captivity is higher and we are implementing various measures to manage the population at the centre. This includes socialisation of leopards wherein two leopards are being kept in one large cage. Moreover, we have shifted 10 leopards to our expanded facility which is almost ready. Earlier, we had sent requests to various state governments and their zoos for relocation of the leopards. For this, we received a positive response from Vantara zoo in Gujarat, and from Odisha and Arunachal Pradesh for their state zoos. The leopards will be shifted to these zoos as per procedure.
