Maharashtra: 2 leopard cubs rescued by forest department, Wildlife SOS in Junnar

Two leopard cubs have been rescued from the sugarcane fields of Pune's Junnar area.

Farmers of Vadgaon Anand village on Monday stumbled upon a lone leopard cub while harvesting their crops. On receiving an alert message, the Forest Department and the Wildlife SOS team swung into action and rescued the cub.

The Wildlife SOS rescue team, led by senior veterinarian Dr Ajay Deshmukh, was already en-route to the location when he received a call about a similar situation in Golegaon, another village in Junnar.

The team quickly split into two midway and went ahead to carry out both the rescue operations simultaneously.

Bapu Yele, Range Forest Officer (Ottur), said, "The Wildlife SOS team is extremely cooperative and has always responded timely to each call of rescue. The Forest Department and the Wildlife SOS team have carried out many such rescue and reunion operations in the region."

On medical examinations, both leopard cubs were found healthy and ready to be reunited with their mothers.

Dr Ajay Deshmukh, Senior Veterinarian at the Manikdoh Leopard Rescue Centre said, "Both the leopard cubs were males. The one from Vadgaon Anand village was approximately 10-week-old, whereas the other one was about 13-week-old. Such reunions are of great importance because female leopards can turn aggressive and pose an immediate threat to humans if they are unable to locate their cubs."

After the medical examination, the cubs were carefully placed inside safe boxes, close to where they were found. The Wildlife SOS team installed remote-controlled camera traps to monitor and document the reunion of cubs with their mothers.

Kartick Satyanarayan, Co-founder and CEO of Wildlife SOS said, "Wildlife SOS often receives calls for lost leopard cub sightings during the pre-harvest and harvest season. The dense sugarcane fields foster a suitable shelter for the leopards to breed in and nurture their cubs. Our team aims to work closely with the forest department to raise awareness among the villagers to promote a positive attitude towards leopards and endorse a feeling of co-existence.