Sanjay Gandhi National Park now home to two cubs

The Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) has two very cute new guests. Two leopard cubs, that were found during the sugarcane harvest at Nandurbar, have been brought to SGNP after the reunion attempt with their mother failed. On November 29, the forest department officials at the Taloda range of Nandurbar division were informed by a farmer that two leopard cubs have been found during the harvesting of the sugarcane crop.

Without wasting time, the FD team reached the spot and took possession of the cubs, which were later kept at the same location for reunion with their mother. The team tried the process till December 2, but as the reunion was unsuccessful, the three-week-old cubs were sent to the leopard rescue centre at SGNP.

Range forest officer (RFO) Vijay Barabde, who is also in charge of the Leopard Rescue Centre, said, "As the cubs are very young, we are feeding them with a milk substitute which is given to the cubs of the cat family in absence of their mother's milk. This substitute is being fed to them using a dropper, six times a day."

It may be noted that taking care of young cubs is a very challenging task. Barabde has appointed a team of five people, which is dedicatedly looking after the cubs and are also continuously monitoring their health with the help of a veterinarian. Experts also say that reuniting cubs that have been separated from their mother is essential as there's a likelihood of the mother turning very aggressive out of sheer distress, thus inviting an incident of direct conflict.

During this harvesting season, such incidents are quite common for villagers residing near the scrub forests of Maharashtra, which is the natural habitat of a large population of leopards. In the past decade, NGO Wildlife SOS and Maharashtra Forest Department have successfully reunited over 80 cubs with their mothers, especially during the peak harvest season.