NASHIK :
In separate incidents, two leopards have been trapped by the Forest Department with the help of cages laid on Wednesday morning (Aug 5) in Rahuri village, and Jakori village respectively.
Both the villages are in close proximity to Darna river basin where more than 10 leopards have been trapped within the time span of two months.On 2nd August, villagers of Rahuri village had spotted a male leopard roaming in their fields in the afternoon.
As a result, there was panic amongst the villagers because they work in their fields daily. The leopard’s movement in the field of Santosh Sanap, a resident of Rahuri village was captured on phone by the villagers.
Ever since the number of leopards in the area increased, cages were set up by the forest department. On 4th August, just after two days of being spotted, the male leopard was trapped in the cage set up in a guava garden near the field of Santosh Sanap.
range forest officer, Madhukar Gosavi and his team took charge of the cage, and the leopard is being kept in a nursery at Gangapur.Two months ago, three out of four people were killed in human attacks, after which citizens, along with people’s representatives, demanded the trapping of the leopards.
Forest Minister Sanjay Rathore took conscience of the issue, and deployed a special team of the Forest Department of the Borivali National Park in Darna belt. The positive effect of the team is evident as ten leopards have been trapped in a row.
However, there are still seven to eight leopards out there in the open.Meanwhile, another leopard was trapped near Devi Mandir in Jakori village on the same day as informed by social activist Vilas Jagle. After he informed the police about the same, the police informed Forest Department and they took charge of the leopard.
Villagers gathered in numbers to witness the trapped carnivore.“There are two to three more leopards in this area. The villages in our area are connected to each other, and so are the farms of the villagers. As a result, it becomes difficult to keep a count.
The leopards keep moving from one field to other. Whenever the youngsters spot any leopard, they make a video and send it to me. In no time, I inform forest department of the same, and they take action immediately. For now, two cages have been installed in our area,” said Swati Ram Pansare, Police Patil, Rahuri village.
