JOIN USMaharashtra Forest Department completes 100th leopard reunion
In what was their 100th successful reunion, the Maharashtra Forest Department and Wildlife SOS reunited a leopard cub with its mother in the Junnar Forest Division in the Pune district.
Sugarcane farmers had discovered a 45-day-old male leopard cub in Shiroli village.
The incident was immediately reported to the forest department officials who rescued the cub and brought it to the Manikdoh Leopard Rescue Centre in Junnar, operated jointly by Wildlife SOS and the Maharashtra Forest Department.
The Wildlife SOS veterinary team conducted a mandatory health examination of the cub. The cub was identified as a male and was estimated to be 45 days old. Once declared fit for the reunion, the cub was taken back to the location from where he was discovered.
The team placed the cub in a safe box and for the reunion to be a success, the box was lined with the cubs’ urine drops. After a few hours, camera traps set up by the team captured the heartwarming moment of the female leopard finding her cub and carrying him away to a safer location.
Dr Chandan Sawane, Veterinary Officer, Wildlife SOS said, “Lining the box with the cub’s urine acts as a scent marking to assist the mother leopard in locating him more easily. The leopard’s mother cautiously approached the safety box as seen in the camera trap footage. After scanning the area for any danger, she cleverly used her paw to tip the box over, and safely carried away her cub to a safe location.”
Kartick Satyanarayan, Co-founder and CEO, Wildlife SOS said, “It is remarkable to think that this was our 100th successful leopard cub reunion. Since 2009, Wildlife SOS has been proactively involved in every harvesting season to protect and conserve the Indian Leopard through reunion operations. Over a decade of rescue, awareness and sensitisation efforts have led to this milestone. As a result, the farmers and villagers sharing space with leopards have become more tolerant and responsible as well.”