Abandoned Leopard cub in Thane reunited with mother after 72 hour operation

THANE: A Leopard cub was found abandoned in a village near Murbad in Thane district by a group of tribals in a forested area about to be attacked by a pack of strays.

The Murbad Forest Department and Resqink Association for Wildlife Welfare (RAWW) timely intervened and safely rescued the cub and began the operation to reunite the cub with its mother.

The leopard cub was first medically examined and a team of experts from RAWW evaluated the situation and found a strategic location where the cub was placed in a container for three days from evening to morning and later taken back for feeding and care everyday. Cameras were installed to monitor the cub along with drones, night vision and other equipments as well.

On first day the female leopard visited the cub but did not take it back into the forests, the second day the female did not visit the area suspected due to rainlfall and finally on the third day after two failed attempts the leopard came and took the cub away marking one of the first leopard reunion exercise on record.

A team of 15 members from RAWW and 15 Forest officials were on ground 24 x 7 in different shifts playing different roles.

The whole exercise was done under the supervision of Sachin Repal, IFS, deputy conservator of forests, Thane Territorial Wing and Maheshkumar Shinde, range forest officer Murbad.

The teams will continue to monitor and patrol the location and surroundings.