Female leopard strays into residential stretch in Pune, injures two

Big cat tranquilised after two failed attempts and sent to the Rajiv Gandhi Zoo Park in Pune

A little over a week since a leopard strayed into a residential area in Nashik, another one entered an under-construction building in Pune. Around 10 people were allegedly injured, some during the rescue operation of the female leopard, who was caught after two and half hours.

The incident took place on Monday around 7 am in Keshavnagar's Bhoi wasti which is a developing area with many under-construction buildings. It attacked a senior citizen and then ran into the under-construction building.

Speaking to mid-day, Subhadra Taru, 75, a local resident who was seriously injured said, "As usual I was washing utensils outside my house. Suddenly I heard movement and before I could see what it was, the leopard attacked me on the neck. I hit it with the utensil I was holding and started throwing others at it. It ran away."

The crowd that gathered at the site to see the leopard

Attacked rescuers
Girish Chourge, a volunteer from an animal rescue organisation said once people heard about the leopard, a mob gathered to see it. "We came to know that from the temple of Renuka mata the leopard went into an under-construction building. We began to search for it and realised it was in the parking area, hiding in a duct. But before we could trap it, it attacked us. In this forest guard B S Waikar was injured. To divert the leopard's attention, our volunteer Dattatray Kodre tried to hit it with a stick. It then came towards us and animal rescuer Aditya Bhandari injured his hand due to its claws. The Fire Brigade personnel helped us a lot."

Chourge said they attempted to trap the leopard twice but failed. Around 9.30 am the animal was trapped by the Mundhwa police, Fire Brigade personnel, animal rescue team and forest officials. The leopard was then tranquilised and sent to the Rajiv Gandhi Zoo Park in Pune.

Official speak
A Sreelaxmi, deputy conservator of forests said, "It is a female leopard and could be around 3 years old. It appears that she came from the forest patch and sugarcane farm area in Manjari. Two people including our staffer Waikar, who risked his life to rescue the leopard, are seriously injured. I would appeal to people to not gather in an area into which a big cat strays."

Those injured include Taru, forest guard Waikar, watchman of the under-construction building Vikas Bhokare, a labourer Sukharam and Avinash Abhange of the animal rescue organisation. Police said some locals claimed to have been injured by the animal.

Also Read: Lost leopard enters posh area in Nashik, rescued by forest department

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