Following an elaborate operation that involved drone surveillance, Forest Department officials and expert veterinarians have rescued a leopard from Khed taluka. The animal is believed to be the one which had attacked a 45-year-old woman in the early hours of Thursday.
Lata Borhade (45), a resident of Jaulke village of Khed taluka, was critically injured when a leopard attacked her around 5.30 am on Thursday. Jaulke village is the neighboring village of Retwadi, where two women were attacked by a leopard on Tuesday evening.
After another incident of human-leopard conflict in the area, the Forest Department had intensified patrolling and launched an operation to rescue the leopard with the help of cage traps already installed there.
When contacted, Range Forest Officer Pradeep Raundhal confirmed that a leopard had been rescued with the help of a cage trap in Jaulke area on Friday night. Based on the pattern of the rosette on the rescued leopard and some images captured from the camera traps near the Jaulke incident site, Forest Department officials have confirmed that it’s the same animal. Officials said the leopard is aged between six to eight years and is a female. After the rescue, the leopard was sent to the Manikdoh Leopard Rescue Center of the Wildlife SOS.
An official who was part of the operation said the effort involved various technological tools, including drone cameras for surveillance and identification of the leopard, followed by strategic planning to guide the leopard towards the cage and finally rescue it. The operation was conducted with the help of expert veterinarians from Wildlife SOS and local residents.
Officials are yet to ascertain whether the same leopard was involved in both attacks in Retwadi. The two sites in Retwadi are located one-and-a-half km from each other.
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