LEOPARDESS STRIKES PANIC IN A VILLAGE NEAR PUNE

Pune, 15th December 2018

In a late-night rescue operation that lasted nearly two hours, Wildlife SOS & the Forest Dept. rushed to the aid of a 6-year-old female leopard in Thakur Pimpri village located in Pune district, Maharashtra. The leopard is weak, suffering from severe dehydration and currently undergoing treatment.

At around 7 pm on Friday, the Wildlife SOS team operating out of the Manikdoh Leopard Rescue Center in Junnar received a distress call from ACF Yuvraj Mohite about a reported leopard sighting in Thakur Pimpri village located in Walunj Shivar, Pune district. Residents were left in a state of panic after they spotted the leopard resting under a tree in the outskirts of the village and immediately contacted the authorities for help.

Bracing themselves with safety nets, a trap cage and tranquilizing equipment to carry out the rescue mission, a six-member team from Wildlife SOS immediately headed to the location accompanied by about ten forest officers. As a crowd of on-lookers had gathered around the field, the forest officers cordoned off the area as a safety measure, while Wildlife SOS senior veterinarian, Dr. Ajay Deshmukh carefully immobilized the distressed feline using a sedative injection from a safe distance. The rescue mission lasted for almost two hours after which the leopard was carefully transported to the Manikdoh Leopard Rescue Centre for immediate medical intervention. The facility provides a transit home for leopards in peril or caught in conflict situations and currently houses over 30 leopards who cannot be released back into the wild.

Dr. Ajay Deshmukh, Senior Veterinarian at the Wildlife SOS Manikdoh Leopard Rescue Center said, “The leopard is an approx. 6-years-old female. She is weak and suffering from severe dehydration, so we have put the animal on oral rehydration solution and IV drips.”

Kartick Satyanarayan, Co-founder & CEO of Wildlife SOS said, “The leopard is under stress and will take time to recover from the ordeal. Our dedicated team of veterinarians is carrying out the necessary treatment for the injuries and upon complete recovery, it will be released back into its natural habitat. We are extremely grateful to the forest department for their cooperation and for their assistance in making this rescue a success.”

Yuvraj Mohite, Asst. Conservator of Forests- Junnar said, “Junnar region has a significant leopard population and they are often spotted in the vicinity of human settlements. We work closely with Wildlife SOS to carry out rescue missions and awareness programs across villages to help mitigate human-leopard conflict.”