Following a spate of human-leopard conflict incidents in Pune district that led to injuries and loss of life, a video has gone viral on social media showing a woman working in a field while wearing a metal spike collar around her neck.

Experts have raised concern that such metal collars could harm both the wearer and the leopard. The Forest Department has clarified that it has not distributed any metal spike collars. Instead, it has provided protective collars made of engineering plastic spikes, which are designed to be safer.