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Leopard attack: 13-year-old boy died due to leopard attack in Pune district of Maharashtra. Angered by the leopard attack, the villagers created a ruckus.
Leopard attack: A 13-year-old boy died after being attacked by a leopard in Pune district of Maharashtra. Angered by the leopard attack, the villagers created a ruckus. After vandalizing, people set a forest department vehicle on fire. Due to which the vehicle was burnt to ashes. Forest workers saved their lives by running away. On Monday, officials ordered the leopard to be captured and killed. Forest officials said a team of five sharpshooters has been deployed in the area for this purpose. People from areas prone to leopard attacks like Junnar, Ambegaon, Shirur of the district protested by blocking the road near Avasari on the Pune-Nashik highway on Monday. There was a lot of anger among the people due to the forest department not taking any action in view of the continuous leopard attacks. In the last one month, three people have died in leopard attacks in Shirur area, sparking anger among the local people.
orders to shoot
On the other hand, the Forest Department official said that today we are conducting a camera trap exercise. Swabs will be collected from leopards caught during the tranquilizing process. Junnar forest division’s assistant conservator of forests, Smita Rajhans, said the leopard would be wiped out. He told that the Principal Forest Conservator has issued orders to shoot. Today a team of sharpshooters armed with tranquilizing guns and normal guns will lay traps and catch the leopards. These leopards will be kept in a rehabilitation center for the swab collection process. He further said that on Sunday, a leopard killed Rohan Bombay (13) in Pimparkhed village when he was playing near the fields.
Villagers took to the streets
Officials said that after the incident, angry locals set fire to a forest department patrol vehicle and demonstrated outside the forest department base camp to protest against the frequent leopard attacks in the area. According to the Wildlife Institute of India, there are 6 to 7 leopards in every 100 square kilometers in Junnar forest division of Pune. Officials said that abundant water supply, increasing human population engaged in agriculture and increasing number of domesticated animals have created a favorable environment for leopards to live in these areas.
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