Two injured in separate incidents involving leopards
In the first incident which took place in the Alephata area of Junnar tehsil, a couple riding a motorbike along a village road surrounded by sugarcane fields came upon a leopard trying to cross the road. The leopard got scared due to the sudden arrival of the vehicle while the man riding the two-wheeler fell and sustained injuries
In separate incidents involving leopards on December 12, two persons riding motorbikes were injured with one of them scratched by a leopard apart from suffering a leg fracture.
In the first incident which took place in the Alephata area of Junnar tehsil, a couple riding a motorbike along a village road surrounded by sugarcane fields came upon a leopard trying to cross the road. The leopard got scared due to the sudden arrival of the vehicle while the man riding the two-wheeler fell and sustained injuries. Forest officials confirmed the incident and clarified that the man wasn’t attacked by the leopard but suffered injuries mainly due to falling from his bike. The man is in a stable condition and receiving treatment at a hospital near Alephata.
In the second incident which took place on the same day in the Kalewadi area, a man riding a motorbike came upon a leopard trying to cross the road. In this case, the man sustained leopard scratches apart from a fracture in his left leg. He too is receiving treatment at a nearby hospital.
Smita Rajhans, assistant conservator of the Junnar forest department, said, “We received information about both the incidents and our officials met the people involved.”
A majority of roads in these areas are surrounded by sugarcane fields and unlike the city, are empty in the evenings due to which leopards find it easy to roam around. The sudden passing of vehicles tends to frighten these animals, often eliciting an aggressive reaction from them. Hence, people are advised to follow the safety measures put out by the forest department, Rajhans said.