Goa village waits for leopardess to pick up cub

Residents of the Bondanwada hamlet in Sattari area are waiting for a leopardess to take away her cub.

The big cat had given birth to two cubs Monday at an abandoned stone crusher site in the hilly northern region of Sattari.

Hours after the mother leopard ferried one cub to a safe hideout in the forested hills late in the night, residents are waiting for her to take away the second one.

Navso Parwar, a stone sculptor, told IANS Tuesday that the cub's eyes were still shut.

"The quarries were abandoned some years ago because they were illegal, so the area is secluded. That may be the reason for the leopardess giving birth here," Parwar said.

Forest range officer Paresh Parab said, "She gave birth to two cubs and took one to her lair."

Sattari is one of the most forested areas in Goa and its jungles border Maharashtra and Karnataka. The region is also home to the Mhadei wildlife sanctuary, where a tiger was sighted recently.

Wildlife officials are trying to keep residents away from the site because they say it is critical the leopardess returns to retrieve her cub.

"If she cannot get back the cub, she will treat the area as hostile which could mean a possible threat for the domesticated animals as well as people living there," a forest official said.

The official, however, said that in case the mother leopard fails to turn up, the forest department would claim and raise the cub.

"We will be left with no option if she does not return after 36 hours. We have often taken abandoned litter of wild animals and raised those on our own," the official said.