On February 5, a leopard had injured seven people living in an under-construction building in a residential area of Mundhwa in Pune. (Representational Image/File)A wild leopard breached a three-metre high enclosure for rescued herbivores at the Gorewada rescue centre in Nagpur Tuesday night, killing five chitals, three black bucks and one chousingha (four-horned antelope).
Deputy Conservator of Forest Nandkishor Kale said, “The leopard from the wild area of Gorewada forest last night entered one of the three enclosures for herbivores reached from various forests and killed these animals. He also ate two of them partially.”
“We had recently raised a solar fencing for the three enclosures. We had ensured a height that wasn’t likely to be jumped over. Maybe, the leopard manned to do that,” he said. “We will try to raise the height now,” he added.
On February 5, a leopard had injured seven people living in an under-construction building in a residential area of Mundhwa in Pune. Officials from the forest department, police and staff from local zoo, with the help of Fire Brigade personnel, captured the leopard after a two-hour-long operation.
In another recent incident of animal-leopard conflict, a five-month-old baby from a nomadic herder family was killed by a leopard last week in Junnar forest region, when a group of families was camping on a farm in Yedgaon village, around 110 km from Pune city.
Usually, the increased frequency of leopard sightings and reports of human-animal conflict are observed during sugarcane crushing season, when thick cane covers are cut down. This reveals increased leopard habitation in sugarcane fields, and it is also a sign that the animal’s prey base in both reserved and protected forests is shrinking. Experts believe that to protect the overall health of the jungles, concerted efforts need to be made to conserve the prey base in forests. At the same time, government authorities need to undertake awareness campaigns in conflict-prone areas, to educate people on how to avert the loss of life and livestock, say experts.
