Maha: Abandoned leopard cub to be sent to rehab centre

The forest department has decided to send a leopard cub, rescued from a forest here, to a rehabilitation centre as efforts to reunite the feline with its mother have failed, an official said on Monday.

After the feline was rescued, its mother came looking for the cub in the forest but refused to accept it, he said.

The barely two-day old cub was rescued from an open gym at Yeoor Hills in Maharashtra's Thane district on December 4 after some morning walkers spotted it.

It was sent to a veterinary hospital at the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) in Borivali area of neighbouring Mumbai for further care.

"Our efforts to reunite the cub with its mother have failed. The mother came in the range (of the forest) but refused to accept the cub," SGNP's range forest officer Rajendra Pawar said.

Since the cub cannot be left in the wild as other animals may harm it, it has been decided to send it to a rehabilitation centre, he said.

As of now, special arrangements have been made at the hospital to take care of the cub, the official said, adding the feline is currently in a healthy condition.

The Yeoor Hills are part of the Sanjay Gandhi National Park, where leopard sightings are fairly common.