In a disturbing incident in Pune’s Ambegaon taluk, at least five leopard cubs were found charred to death on Wednesday in a sugarcane farm.

The leopard cubs were accidentally burnt to death after sugarcane labourers set fire to farm trash in Avasari village in Ambegaon, according to Forest Department authorities.

As per other reports, the sugarcane labourers started a fire after sighting a snake, but instead ended up killing the leopard cubs, believed to be less than three weeks old. The labourers have denied they were aware of the presence of the cubs, said forest officials.

Last month, two leopard cubs were rescued from the sugarcane fields in the same region when farmers of Vadgaon Anand village stumbled upon them during harvesting.

In November last year, in two tragic incidents emblematic of the man-leopard conflict, a six-year-old male leopard was found dead in a forest near Alandi (near Pune city), while a two-year-old leopard was knocked down by a speeding vehicle in Ahmednagar district.

In February 2018, the bodies of three leopards were discovered in Bhor Taluk in Pune district under ‘unnatural circumstances’. At the time, police authorities said the animals had died of poisoning.

Maharashtra has witnessed an alarming rise in the number of leopard deaths since 2018, with wildlife activists and forest authorities estimating nearly 35 deaths in the State since January last year.