Children rescue abandoned leopard cubs in Nagaland village

Four children, aged between 11 and 12 years in a village in Nagaland's Peren district, rescued two abandoned leopard cubs while they were out for a bath on Friday.

The four boys, Njancham, Kaisithui, Khouralung, and Wiramsiaged from Tening village told the elders that they found the abandoned cubs in a hollowed tree near a stream adjacent to paddy fields in the village, when they went downstream for a bath.

"They brought the cubs to the village after which Chamdinbo, a teacher in a government high school and a resident of the village informed the district administration for assistance. The officials in the district informed the Nagaland Zoological Park, Dimapur and Divisional Forest Officer, Peren, who initiated necessary protocols for immediate transfer of the cubs from Tening village to Nagaland Zoological Park for specialised care and protection," said a statement issued by Nagaland government on Monday.

The two cubs were shifted to Nagaland Zoological Park on Sunday.

"The whereabouts of the mother of the cubs is still unknown. What remains to be seen is how the cubs were found not in the wild, but at a very close vicinity around the paddy fields of Tening village which only serves as a stark reminder of growing man-animal conflict, amidst the loss of habitats for the big cats," said the statement.

Leopards have been listed as vulnerable in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List.