Male leopard trapped in Manjari, villagers fear others could still be on the loose

According to locals, a leopard was first spotted by them in July, after which a forest department team visited there and checked pug marks of the animal.

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However, it was only after a leopard reportedly attacked and injured one Jayprakash Trivedi (34) at Wadjai in Manajri about four days back that the forest department officials set up three cages with goats inside them as bait.

Around 7.30 am Friday, a leopard was found trapped in one of the cages. A team of forest officials soon reached the spot where a large number of villagers had gathered despite heavy rains.

A team of Pune rural police also rushed to the place to control the crowd.

It took about three hours for the forest officials to move the cage away from the crowd.

The leopard was then taken to the Manikdoh Leopard Rescue and Rehabilitation Center in Junnar.

Dr Ajay Deshmukh, veterinary officer of Wildlife SOS, which runs the centre, said, “It is a male leopard. Age is about eight years. It is physically fit. There is no injury on its body.”

Meanwhile, villagers are still living under fear as they believe there are more leopards in the area. “Initially, when one of my workers said he had spotted a leopard in out farm, it was hard to believe. But later, more villagers saw the leopard. Some say there were two cubs along with a fully grown leopard. So, we suspect there could be more leopards hiding in this area,” said Ashok Avhale, who owns farms.

A forest guard said they were taking all precautions and information received from villagers was being taken seriously.

Forest officials said that though Manajri was not a natural habitat for leopards, they might have moved out of jungle in search of prey and water and reached farms in the area.