Forest dept proposes 'state disaster' tag to leopard attacks in Junnar division

PUNE: The Junnar forest division has proposed state govt to consider repeated leopard attacks on humans as a "state disaster", after three deaths in the last three weeks.
"It will help us mitigate the situation on the ground in the affected villages and pacify angry villagers," deputy conservator of forests Amol Satpute told TOI on Saturday.
At present, the division has barely 240 forest staffers, including forest guards and range forest officers, to cover Junnar, Ambegaon, Shirur and Khed tehsils."For the first time, we have received 50 personnel from NDRF to control the situation in Pimpalwandi and surrounding villages, where leopard attacks have increased in the last fortnight," said Satpute.
The forest department trapped three leopards, including one from the spot where a woman, Nanubai Sitaram Kadale, was killed when she was tending to bajara farm on Friday.
Officials: Leopard count up in Junnar divn due to thick vegetation in sugar cane fields
The forest department received at least 10 calls of fresh leopard sightings from villagers on Saturday morning. "It shows the high concentration of the animal in the villages under the 'command zone' of the Yadgaon dam," deputy conservator of forests Amol Satpute said, after visiting the affected villages multiple times in the past two days.
The forest division has placed 20 trap cameras at vantage points to capture the movement of leopards in Pimpalwandi, Pimpri Pendhar, Gayamukhwadi, Jambhulpad, Navalewadi, Umbraj 1 and 2, Yedgaon, Vaishakhkhede, Chalkawadi, Bhatkalwadi, Nagadwadi, Kandali and Bhorwadi villages.
A massive migration of leopards to Pimpri Pendhar, Pimpalwandi and surrounding villages might have happened over the past few weeks because they were in search of safe shelters in sugar cane fields, prey and water sources, felt a section of officials of the Junnar forest division.
"As per our assessment based on findings of spot visits in these villages, the concentration of leopards has increased primarily because of green and thick vegetation of sugar cane fields. The sugarcane cutting has been completed in neighbouring villages. So, there is no safe shelter for them. Besides, there is water scarcity in leopard zones in the tehsil. As a result, leopards from neighbouring zones might have migrated to these villages for prey and safe shelter in the sugar cane fields," said one of the range forest officers, monitoring the situation on the ground.
The forest department has placed 40 trap cages in a 5km radius to trap as many leopards as possible in Pimpri Pendhar and Pimpalwandi.
"It is a huge arrangement. Each kilometre or trap cage is monitored closely. We endeavour to catch the maximum animals possible in the next few days," said Satpute.