15 August,2019 03:49 PM IST | Nashik | Ranjeet Jadhav
The efforts taken by the Forest Department officials in Nasik have finally paid off as they have successfully reunited a five-months-old cub with its mother after three days. This is the fourth successful leopard-cub reunion by Nasik Forest Department. Talking to mid-day Range Forest Officer Sanjay Bhandari said, "I am happy to share the news that our attempt to reunite the leopard cub with its mother has finally been successful and the leopard has taken away the cub that was kept in the sugarcane field."
On Tuesday evening, the forest department kept the cub beneath the round-shaped grill box so that the mother can easily spot the cub. A rope was also tied to the round-shaped grill so that it becomes easy for a female leopard to lift the grill when the female leopard comes searching.
In order to track each and every move, the forest department team installed CCTV cameras and camera traps and real-time monitoring of the footage was done by the authorities who were sitting inside a vehicle that was parked away from the sight of the leopard.
"We were monitoring real-time and finally on the wee hours of Wednesday, the female leopard arrived at the spot from the adjacent sugarcane field. I spotted the cub that was sitting beneath the round-shaped grill. Without wasting any time, we manually pulled the rope tied to the grill. Immediately, the cub ran towards its mother who took her away. This reunion of mother and cub could not have been possible without the support of our seniors and the team on the ground," added Bhandari.
On August 13, 2019 mid-day had done a story (Forest department trying hard to reunite little leopard with its mother in Nashik) in which it was stated that how the forest Department officials in Nashik are trying to reunite a five-month-old leopard with its mother after rescuing it from a well. The team had already reunited three leopard cubs with their mothers in the past few months.
The cub was found on Saturday when the FD received a call informing that it had fallen into a well in Gajarwadi village in Niphad near Nashik. The five-month-old cub had fallen into the well of Prashant Pund who alerted the forest department.
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