A villager's prompt alert to the forest department in Ratnagiri resulted in the successful rescue of a black melanistic leopard that was ensnared in wire fencing of a mango orchard. On Wednesday morning, Padmanath alias Pintya Kotharkar of Kuveshi village informed the range forest officer of Rajapur forest department about the black cat getting trapped in the mango orchard of Harshad Hareshwar Manjarekar.

Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Girija Desai said, “We rushed to the spot along with the rescue team and found that the melanistic leopard was trapped in the fence wire. With the help of our experienced staff, the melanistic leopard was rescued within fifteen minutes and shifted into the trap cage.”