NASHIK :
The female leopard who had taken shelter in an abandoned house in Igatpuri, has vacated the place. The Mama leopard has carried away her four tiny cubs successfully and must have found safe shelter, informed Nashik West Forest officials.
On August 16, it was revealed that a female leopard has taken shelter in an abandoned house in Nandgaon Sado village. The leopard had kept her 15 days’ cubs in the place to avoid the heavy rains while finding safe shelter.
In a small house near the human settlement, she kept all four cubs safe for 15 days. The forest department took efforts to keep the humans away from the leopard. But, the question was how long would it go?
Surprisingly, as soon as the rain subsided, mother leopard found her own path and took the cubs to their natural habitat. The forest sources said, “the leopard took advantage of fog and took the cubs one by one.
She must have found a safe place to keep her cubs. It was first of it’s kind incident ever reported in country.”
“Due to heavy rains in the district, a five- to six-year-old female leopard had to take shelter in a hut in Nandgaon Sado. As this was the first case under the supervision of the Forest Department, it was taken seriously.
The villagers were reassured that the four cubs were kept in the same hut. Everyone hoped that the female would come and take the cubs back to nature”, added sources.
However, heavy rain showers became obstacle to find a safe natural habitat. Eventually, the females began to feed the cubs in the same house. The video of the event had gone viral last week with huge response from netizens. The forest Department’s trap cameras were monitoring the female’s movements as she was barred from approaching the hut.
Keeping the cubs safe, the female used go out of the house in search of food and return to the cubs. After living in a human settlement for a few days as a guest, she has found a safe place in nature. As a result, the danger in the suburbs has been reduced and the females and cubs have also got a chance to live together.
Catches world attention
The Forest department informed that the incident was so rare that it has not been ever reported. No such wild animal has been trapped in human settlement and feeding the cubs. On top of that they have successfully united and have vacated the place. The incident has been acclaimed across world by the wildlife enthusiasts.
The incident at Igatpuri is rare. Rains often cause females and cubs to break up. However, cubs are in their natural habitat. In this incident there were cubs in a hut. The female used to come to them regularly. The intensity of the rains has decreased and the female cubs have returned to their natural habitat.
Ganesh Jhole, assistant forest conservator, Nashik West
