"The issue of human-leopard conflict in Junnar is quite serious. Leopards are trapped after attacks on humans. Instead of keeping them in cages for the rest of their lives, we have decided to keep them in enclosed but larger areas, where tourists can see them from closed vehicles," said Mungantiwar, adding that the forest department has already made a proposal.
The Maharashtra State Forest department seems to be on a spree to set up leopard safaris across the state. After announcing a leopard safari each at Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) in Mumbai and the Chandrapur city, state forest minister Sudhir Mungantiwar on Tuesday announced a third one in Junnar.
"The issue of human-leopard conflict in Junnar is quite serious. Leopards are trapped after attacks on humans. Instead of keeping them in cages for the rest of their lives, we have decided to keep them in enclosed but larger areas, where tourists can see them from closed vehicles," said Mungantiwar, adding that the forest department has already made a proposal.
While the matter was discussed in detail in Mumbai on Tuesday, Junnar MLA Sharad Sonawane said this will boost tourism in the area. "We are glad. It was the need of the hour, as leopards are being regularly trapped but there is no place to keep them. So, they are forced to live in small cages for several years," he said.
Giving more details, Junnar chief conservator of forest (CCF-Territorial) Jeet Singh said the forest department has finalised the location of the safari. It will be close to the famous Shivneri fort, which already sees a lot of tourists, and a leopard safari nearby will be an added attraction.
"We have proposed to use 100 hectares of the forest department land, where a leopard-proof fence will be put up and the big cats captured from Junnar will be released. Tourists can see them sitting in enclosed buses. While the state has given us a go-ahead, a detailed plan will have to be submitted to the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) for final clearance," said Singh, adding that they have decided to restrict the safari to 100 hectares initially, but they were also looking at feasibility to expand it to 200 hectares.
Meanwhile, Pune-based wildlife biologist Dr Vidya Athreya, who has researched on leopards, said that while a safari was always a good idea to sensitise people, the problem was the random trapping of leopards.
"Large-scale leopard trapping is done and the trapped cats are released at different locations. In fact, it has been found that attacks on humans in Junnar increased in 2001-2003, mostly at sites where the leopards were released," said Athreya, adding that this showed that trapping was not the solution and one of the best examples was Mumbai, where forest officials discouraged random trappings, bringing down the number of predatory attacks on humans.
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