8-week-old leopard cub successfully reunited with its mother in Junnar

The 8-week old leopard cub was successfully reunited with its mother near Nirgude village in Junnar. All Pictures/

In what can be termed as a celebration of World Wildlife Day in the true sense, NGO Wildlife SOS along with Maharashtra Forest Department successfully reunited an 8-week old leopard cub that had got separated from its mother near Nirgude village in Junnar.

The 8-week-old leopard cub that was rescued by Wildlife SOS and the Maharashtra Forest Department in Junnar

It may be noted that harvest season has commenced in Maharashtra and this is considered good news by two communities - sugarcane farmers and leopards. For the farmers, it is now time to grow the cash crop that they depend on heavily for livelihood, and for the leopards, this season signifies a new cycle of life; they find the sugarcane farms to be exceedingly well suited to the needs of motherhood - protection from predators, humans and plenty of food in the nearby forest fringes, everything a fiercely protective new mother would need to successfully rear her children. But it is a false sense of security that often proves dangerous for both communities sharing the land.

A day's hard work for the farmers of Nirgude village was just ending around dusk, on Monday, when they heard sporadic, almost inaudible cries from a thick clump of sugarcane stalks. Farmers in Maharashtra often live in close proximity to leopards, so when they heard the cries of a cub, they knew the mother was not far behind. To avoid a dangerous encounter, the kind-hearted villagers immediately contacted the Forest Department of Junnar who in turn reached out to Wildlife SOS to help reunite the helpless cub with its mother.

The 8-week-old cub was incredibly young to survive on her own

The young feline was identified as a female, approximately 8 weeks old, and was found to be fit for release after a thorough medical examination. The team immediately prepared all the requisite equipment including a safe box and a remote-controlled camera trap, while they assumed positions at a safe distance. After a while, a leopardess was observed stealthily making her way to the safe box and was incredibly relieved to find her cub, safe and alive, inside.

Mahendra Dhore, Wildlife SOS Veterinary Assistant said, "The 8-week-old cub was incredibly young to survive on her own. We would like to ensure that leopard cubs that get separated from their mothers don't end up in captivity if we can help it. We want them to live freely in their natural habitat. Wildlife SOS makes every effort to make such rescue and reunion operations possible."

Kartick Satyanarayan, Co-founder & CEO of Wildlife SOS said, "On the occasion of World Wildlife Day, we would like to draw everyone's attention to the man-animal conflict prevalent in Maharashtra. Over the past decade, Wildlife SOS has partnered with the state forest department to conduct many workshops and awareness modules which have shown significant result, indicated by the increasing number of phone calls we get for rescuing distressed wildlife. It has been our sincere effort to mitigate conflict in these areas, and we are incredibly grateful to the forest department for being such staunch support and the local residents, who are keeping avoidance and mitigation teachings in mind when dealing with wild animals."

Ajit Shinde, Range Forest Officer (Junnar) said, "We were contacted by local farmers when they found the cub in the farm. We deployed a team to assess the situation while the Wildlife SOS team arrived to begin the reunion operation. We are extremely grateful for their support in our efforts to mitigate man-leopard conflict situations in the state and spreading awareness on such issues."

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