Pune: Leopard rescued in Shirur, believed to have attacked three-year-old boy last week

On May 20, Vadhu Budruk-based farmer Nitin Shivle’s son Varad was injured in an attack by a leopard around 8 pm when he was playing in the open yard in front of their house. Forest officials said that right next to their house is a sugarcane field where the leopard might have stayed hidden.

Varad was attacked by the leopard which suddenly came out of the sugarcane field. It dragged Varad for a distance before family members and neighbours raised the alarm. Officials suspect the leopard might have come targetting cattle in a shed built next to the yard. Varad sustained injuries to his chest and neck and was immediately rushed to a hospital, where he is recovering.

Immediately after the attack, the forest department intensified patrolling in the area and multiple cage traps were set up to rescue the leopard.

Range forest officer Manohar Mhasekar for the Shirur Forest Range said: “We have rescued the leopard, which is believed to have attacked the boy. The animal has been sent to the Manikdoh Leopard Rescue Centre of the Wildlife SOS. We will continue to conduct regular patrolling in the area.”

In a similar effort conducted on May 13, after an elaborate operation that involved drone surveillance, forest department officials and expert veterinarians rescued a leopard from Khed taluka, believed to have attacked a 45-year-old woman three days earlier. Lata Borhade (45), a resident of Jaulke village of Khed taluka was critically injured when a leopard attacked her around 5.30 am on May 12.

Jaulke is a neighbouring village of Retwadi where two women were attacked on May 10. After the three incidents of human leopard conflict, the forest department intensified the patrolling and had launched an operation to rescue the leopard with the help of cage traps already installed in the area.