Within a week, two more leopard cubs found during sugarcane harvest season in Maharashtra

Two leopard cubs found in sugarcane field. Pic/Wildlife SOS

In yet another successful reunion attempt, a pair of eight-week-old leopard cubs were successfully rescued and reunited with their mother in Maharashtra's Junnar city. The cubs were found in a sugarcane field in Ale village, situated in Otur forest range and were rescued by NGO Wildlife SOS and the Maharashtra forest department. On examination by a veterinarian, the cubs were identified as one male and one female, approximately eight-weeks- old.

A similar incident took place a few days ago when four leopard cubs were safely rescued and reunited with their mother in Kabadwadi village of Junnar division.

Without wasting any time further, the farmers from Ale village alerted the forest department who in turn contacted the Wildlife SOS team operating out of the Manikdoh Leopard Rescue Centre for further assistance.

The Wildlife SOS team travelled nearly 40 km to reach the location. Upon arrival, Wildlife SOS veterinarian Dr. Nikhil Bangar conducted an on-site health check up of the cubs. The cubs were then taken to the Manikdoh Leopard Rescue Centre for further medical examination and on being declared healthy, they were found fit to be reunited with their mother.

On Saturday night, the team placed the cubs in a safe box close to the location from where they were retrieved. To ensure a successful reunion, the rescue team lined the safe box with the cubs' urine drops, so that it acts as a scent marking to assist their mother leopard in locating them more easily.

"The sugarcane farmers in Junnar division have to tread very carefully because the harvest season coincides with the birthing period of leopards. The dense sugarcane fields foster a suitable shelter for the leopards to breed in and nurture their cubs. This also gives rise to human-wildlife conflict situations in this region. This is the second reunion operation we have conducted this month," says Dr. Nikhil Bangar, Veterinary Officer, Wildlife SOS.

Mother leopard approaches her cubs. Pic/Wildlife SOS

Kartick Satyanarayan, Co-founder and CEO, Wildlife SOS, adds, "In order to survive in the wild and learn the survival skills, it is crucial for leopard cubs to be reared by their mothers for the first two years of their lives. Reunification is a sensitive matter and to ensure it goes off smoothly, we install remotely operated cameras and camera traps, which helps in surveillance as well as documentation of the entire process."

The camera traps installed during this reunite operation, captured the heartwarming moment when the mother leopard found her cubs and carefully carried them away to a safer location.

It is not uncommon for farmers to be exposed to leopard cubs taking up shelter in sugarcane fields in Maharashtra. Farmers often find cubs as young as 15 days to two months old. But living in close proximity to the leopards, the farmers and local communities play a significant role in conflict mitigation and encouraging the idea of co-existence.