Pune: Female Leopard Trapped in Vadgaon Anand, Junnar Amid Rising Human-Wildlife Conflicts |
A female leopard, approximately four years old, was successfully trapped in a cage in Gadhavaloli Mal, Vadgaon Anand (Junnar) on Sunday morning. Local residents expressed relief and satisfaction with the capture.
The Forest Department reported that the leopard had attacked and killed a goat belonging to Suvarna Tambe, a local resident of Vadgaon, on Thursday. In response to this incident, villagers requested the Forest Department to set up a trap. Acting on the request, the department installed a cage in Gadhavaloli Mal. The leopard, in search of prey, was caught in the cage on Sunday morning. Upon learning of the capture, the villagers immediately alerted the Forest Department.
Forest officers, including Kailas Bhalerao, Dnyaneshwar Salunkhe, Amar Bhutambere, and Roshan Navale, promptly arrived at the scene and safely transported the trapped leopard to the leopard prevention center.
Human-leopard conflict
However, the Vadgaon Anand area is home to a significant population of leopards, prompting local citizens to urge the Forest Department to increase the number of traps to prevent further conflicts between humans and wildlife in the region.
Recently, Junnar, known as a hotspot for leopard-human conflicts in the district, witnessed a fatal leopard attack, this time resulting in the death of a four-year-old boy, Shivtej Tembhekar, in Shirur tehsil of Pune district.
The boy’s head was severed from his body due to the intensity of the attack that occurred earlier this month in Tembhekar Vasti, near Mandavgan Farata village.
In 2024, several tragic leopard attacks occurred in the region. In April, an 18-month-old girl, Sanskruti Kulekar, was killed by a leopard in Shiroli Khurd village. The following month, in May, an 8-year-old boy, Rudra Fatale, was fatally attacked while visiting relatives in Kolwadi, Junnar. Later that month, a 60-year-old woman, Nanubai Sitaram Kadale, lost her life while working on her bajra farm in Pimpri Pendhar. In June, an 11-year-old boy, Yash Suresh Gaikwad, was killed in Dahiwadi village, Shirur taluka. August saw another deadly attack, with a 55-year-old woman being killed in Shirur taluka. In September, a 9-year-old boy was tragically killed in Junnar’s Tejewadi village. In October, a 40-year-old woman, Sujata Dere, was killed by a leopard in a soybean field near her home in Mauje Pimpri Pendhar. The series of attacks continued into November, with a 4-year-old boy being killed in Junnar’s Tembhekar Vasti.
