A 4-year-old girl was killed by a leopard in Shirur taluk of Pune district on Tuesday evening while she was playing in an open yard near a sugarcane field in front of her house. This is the ninth and sixth death of a child in human-leopard conflict in Juner Forest Division.
The incident took place around 7 pm on Tuesday at Pimplasuti village in Shirur taluk, 85 km from Pune city. Officials of the Forest Department have informed that the deceased is the father of Raksha Ajay Nikam (4), a farmer.
“The girl was playing in the open yard in front of their house. At that time there was no electricity supply in the area. A leopard hiding near a tree suddenly attacked the girl. When the leopard started dragging the girl away, the girl’s mother raised an alarm… a search for the girl was started and the villagers informed the forest department officials,” said Amol Satpute, Deputy Conservator of Forests, Junar Division.
After searching for more than an hour, the girl’s body was found. ‘We have increased patrols in the area. We have placed 10 trap cages, 10 camera traps and drone cameras to search and catch leopards,’ said Satpute.
Human deaths in leopard conflict have increased
With this latest incident, the number of people killed in human-leopard conflict in Junnar this year has reached nine, including six children. With two more deaths in Pune division, the death toll in human-leopard conflict in Pune district has risen to 11 this year.
The Maharashtra Forest Department has sent a proposal to the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) for decontamination of 36 enclaves as the number of leopards in Pune’s Junnar forest has increased and incidents of human-leopard conflict have increased in the area. Female and 11 male cheetahs as a targeted birth control method to reduce the population growth rate of cheetahs.
In June this year, the Collector of Pune district had notified more than 230 villages in four taluks of Pune district – Junnar, Ambegaon, Shirur and Khed – as disaster risk due to frequent incidents of human-leopard conflict, which has left many dead and many seriously injured. was reported.
Keeping in view the prevalence of leopards in the area around Kukdi and Ghod rivers, the Junnar Forest Department has been repeatedly appealing to the residents of Junnar, Shirur, Ambegaon and Khed taluks to exercise prime caution. Including installing plenty of bright lights around each house and as far as possible in the farm, completely cleaning the grass cover on both sides of the road around the house and farm, using the toilet inside the house, not going out before sunset and after sunset. Whenever possible, and carry a flashlight and a strong stick if going out.
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